Turtle Racers Hit 422 — High Mark for Summer 2012
The clouds parted, the sun came out and August 8 became a beautiful day for turtle racing in downtown Longville. And lots of racers—412 of them—enjoyed the event. Another 10 racers competed in the Chamber Resort Race, making a total of 422 turtle racers last Wednesday, the most for any race day this summer.
At the end of an afternoon of racing, Grand Champion honors went to Emma Byers, age 14, of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The Title of Grand Slowpoke was bestowed upon Alex Kress, age 6, of Dubuque, Iowa. Dakota Schroader, age 8, of Savage, Minnesota, won the resort race representing Longville Inn.
The Longville Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce would like to thank the many volunteers who work at the turtle races each week. The races were judged by Pat Boen of Gallery of Homes, Marisa Skajewski and Cathy Stagnaro.
Dodee Colberg and Lisa Garbe registered racers, while Jan Thielen of Thielen’s Rainbow Bay Resort and Kathy Froehlig sold tickets and souvenirs. Ed Lammers of Lakeland Promotions and Sharon Gilsrud managed the prize table.
Game operators included Elsie Hagen, Chuck Colberg, Gordy Atzen, Judy Blue, Mike Froehlig, Dennis Zuelke of the Longville Lakes Arts Alliance, Kathy Sweeney of Woodland Insurance and several volunteers from Luther Dell Bible Camp.
Nancy Loren of Little Boy Resort registered racers for the Chamber Resort Race. Katie Daudt made and sold fresh popcorn to raise funds for World Vision, and Barb Anderson from Northland Area Family Service Center supervised the hand-washing station.
Setup and tear down were accomplished by Jake Woodworth and his team from Camp Olson YMCA, along with Tom Kutschied, Don Shurtleff and Bob Saalborn of VFW Post 772. Street managers were Dave Wodrich and Stan Johnson.
Kam Kammueller of Longville Inn entertained the crowd as turtle race announcer, assisted in the announcing booth by Tom Lund of VFW Post 772.
The Longville Turtle Races will be held every Wednesday, rain or shine, through Aug. 22. Registration, games and contests begin at 1 p.m. The Chamber Resort Turtle Race is held at 2 p.m., followed by the regular racing heats. Bring your own turtle (the shell must measure at least 4 inches) or rent one at the races.
More photos are available on the Longville Chamber’s website, www.longville.com, and Facebook page. Proceeds from the turtle races benefit community activities sponsored by the Longville Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce.
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Volunteer Dennis Zuelke helped youngsters at the ring toss game.
