Good Old Days celebrates old-fashioned fun in St. Ignatius
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Michael Martinez, 14, gritted his teeth and pulled at the end of a thick muddy rope with his back to an almost knee deep watery mud hole in the Good Old Days park. He pulled with friends Daniel Lozeau, 11, and Brent Lozeau, 8, until the opposing team on the other end of the rope went into the mud during the tug-of-war competition.
“The trick is to pull as hard as you can,” he said. “When they sit to use their weight, you loosen-up on them so they think they have it, and then, you pull harder.”
The tug-of-war was one of many events during the Good Old Days weekend. On Saturday, people got out of bed early to participate in the Buffalo Run. Zoran Lafrombois, 9, was the first to cross the finish line in the one-mile race.
“I’m usually running around,” he explained as his training strategy.
Zoran wasn’t finished competing. That afternoon, he bounced his way to the finish line in a gunny sack, taking first in his age group.
“I always like to see how fast I can go,” he said.
Before the gunny sack races, Madison Peterson, 12, coached Geico — estimated to be 6 years old in people years — across the finish line to be given the title Fastest Dog at the dog races.
Announcers said Geico was the only dog to break the 3-second mark with a time of 2.9 seconds. Madison said it wasn’t hard to lure Geico to the finish line.
“I started halfway and she ran fast to catch me,” she said. “She cares about me.”
Andrew Jensen, Paige Carney, Willy Long and JP Thomas were racing on souped-up riding lawnmowers at the edge of the park past the bouncy toys, cotton candy and lemonade stands. The group used their mechanical skills to keep the mowers going as long as they could around and around a track they mapped out with old tires and hay bales.
The original idea was to compete for several laps until the fastest driver could be determined but an engine problem, brake troubles and a burning rubber smell caused the group to change plans. A vote was taken between drivers. It was a unanimous decision to give the winning title to JP Thomas.
“Helmets were required,” Thomas said of the rules for the race. “You never know what might happen. No brains, but helmets required.”
After the race, Thomas was already thinking about next year’s race.
“We want to have more racers,” he said. “People can bring their own lawn mowers. It’s a community thing. It’s what the Good Old Days are about: bringing the community together and having fun.”
