Serving Franklin County, WA
Serving Franklin County, WA
LaCrosse, Hooper farmers enter the action in Lind
LIND – A couple Whitman County entries are listed among the competitors in the annual Combine Derby this weekend.
Two day of thrills will dominate Lind on Friday and Saturday, June 10-11, as the annual Combine Derby returns after a two-year hiatus.
Most of the combines come from Adams County, but there are entries from Hooper and LaCrosse. And a couple of the combines have drivers from Western Washington.
“It’s a good time,” Lind Lion’s Club member and derby spokesman Mike Doyle of Lind said Monday. “You’ll never experience the action and thrills of cars, pickups and combines all at one place.”
The derby takes place at the former rodeo arena on state Highway 21; camping is available.
The action gets underway Friday with car and pickup racing. Gates open at 5 p.m.; time trials follow.
Racing will begin when time trials conclude, probably about 6:30-7 p.m., Doyle said.
“Drivers can enter right up until 5:30 p.m.,” Doyle said, noting local racers are always welcome.
Anyone interested in racing should contact Eric Lund at 509-989-2878, for rules and requirements.
The fun continues Saturday morning with the Kiddie Parade at 10:45 a.m., followed by the Grand Parade at 11 a.m.
A barbecue fund-raiser kicks off at noon.
Then it’s back to the races, with pickups starting at 2 p.m.
The Combine Derby will start at 3 p.m., as will Grain Truck Races.
“We have 15 combines this year,” Doyle said, noting there will be three heats of five combines each.
The Top 2 will advance to the main event, while the others will face off in a last-chance consolation heat for a chance to make the main event.
The combine finals will have 9-10 combines, depending on what’s still running, Doyle said.
“That’s full for that arena,” he said.
After the action, Doyle said event-goers can stay for a while and dance to music in the arena.
The Combine Derby is the largest fundraiser for the Lind Lion’s Club, and all the proceeds benefit local projects.
In addition, to local Lions, the Lind-Ritzville High School Future Farmers of American and Future Business Leaders of America clubs will be providing food.
The FFA will run a cook shack, Doyle said, and FBLA students will be selling snow cones, Italian sodas and ice cream.
“We keep the fun raising local,” Doyle said.
While volunteers are busy this week getting the grounds ready, Doyle said local farmers are preparing combines and grain trucks for the weekend event.
Doyle personally entered the Combine Derby for a decade, from the first event in 1988 until about 1998, he said.
“I quit that,” he said. “I’m too old.”
But Doyle’s son has taken up the mantle, as have other area farmers.
“It takes about 50-80 hours to ready a combine,” he said.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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