After months of planning and preparation the Redneck Olympics finally took place at the Forest Grove Legion on Aug. 10.
The backyard of the Legion was turned into a place of competition and fun. The little ones had a bouncy house and a slip-and-slide to play on if they didn’t want to take part in the goofy games.
Most of the participants wore wacky combinations of plaids, stripes and colours. It was a Redneck event after all.
A lot of Legion members attended the event, but there were a lot of future members as well. This event was meant to get folks to come out and see what the Legion is all about and, hopefully, join. There was a lot of food for everyone and it included Redneck Sushi, Redneck Calamari and Squiddles.
Everyone joined in most of the games, even the out-of-town visitors. It was a great way to meet everyone in the neighbourhood.
The games included Mud Pie Eating, Toilet Seat Horseshoes, Paper Towel Relay and Water Balloon Volley Ball.
Jim and Darlene Tindale, Legion president and secretary respectively, worked long and hard on this project, and with a lot of help from other Legion members, it was a really great day.
CPAC donation
After the Redneck Olympics and the meat draw at the Forest Grove Legion were over on Aug. 10, president Tindale presented Kelly Kelsey, Forest Grove Community and Parents Advisory Council (CPAC) secretary, with a $1,000 cheque.
This money was raised to help pay for new playground equipment for the Forest Grove Elementary School. The new equipment price tag is almost $37,000, and at this point, the CPAC have $6,000 left to raise.
There are still two months left to raise this cash, so if you have any spare Loonies or Toonies, you can drop them into the donation jar at the Forest Grove Legion.
Redneck Regatta
The competitors for the Aug. 11 Redneck Regatta started arriving at Ruth Lake Park bright and early to start their boat building. By 8 a.m. there were six boats under construction to take part in the race at 1 p.m.
There were many ingenious ideas for the boats and each one was completely different from the other. The food tent was busy with customers trying out the delicious “Hay Stacks,” a new version of tacos which everyone loved. By noon the boat building was finished and people started arriving to watch the race.
Where else would you rather be on a beautiful summer day than sitting on a lake shore or paddling in the water waiting for a boat race to start? Motor boats from all over Ruth Lake started jockeying for position to watch the race and cheer on the competitors.
The race got started at 1 p.m. and everyone was cheering and laughing. Dale Gent, a Forest Grove 94 Lions Club member, had his party barge on the lake to mark the point of the race where everyone turned to shore. The gang on the barge were blasting everyone with the water cannon as they went by.
The “Groovy Grovers” boat was halfway through the course when some of its flotation apparatus became discombobulated, but they still managed to come in fourth place. No one sank in the race, but the entry “Piston Broke” was slightly submerged as it crossed the finish line.
Every competitor won an award and a lot of photos were taken.
Everyone is already making plans for next year and deciding how to build their next boat.