Big Back-in benefits community projects
SPIRIT LAKE – Kymberly Bowlby was a winner at last year’s Big Back-In lawn mower races in Spirit Lake.
She’s hoping for a repeat.
Well, not exactly.
“I got the tough luck award,” Kymberly said as she tightened a bolt on a black spray-painted riding mower.
The Charter Academy student and member of Spirit Lake YES, a community youth group, says she doesn’t have a strategy for this year’s races.
Other than: “Just go.”
About eight kids and teens from Spirit Lake Youth Equipped for Success have been meeting twice a week to fix up mowers for the Big Back-In lawn mower drag races. The races start at 11 a.m. sharp on June 15 on Spirit Lake’s Maine Street.
The annual Father’s Day event is a fundraiser for community projects. Proceeds from past years were used to build restrooms at Spirit Lake’s City Park.
This is the second year YES kids have participated in the event. The group, which welcomes Spirit Lake youths age 12 and older, is refurbishing several mowers. Members of the group over age 14 – the minimum age to pilot a mower in the race – will compete at the Big Back-In.
Matt’s Auto, 4th & Main Pizza, Spirit Lake’s Inland Northwest Bank and Snap-on Tools are each sponsoring a mower.
The mower sponsored by the bank is being rebuilt to look like an armored car.
The one sponsored by the pizza shop is going to look like a pickup truck once it’s done.
The Snap-On mower will become a Snap-On Tools truck.
“It’s fun,” said Ashley Stoneman, an eighth-grade student at Timberlake Junior High. “It gives me something to do besides sitting at home.”
Ashley, who will drive a mower in the races, said she’s learned a lot working on lawn mowers.
“It’s more complicated than I thought,” she said.
Debbie Martin, a YES board member, said the mower races are just one of several activities YES is involved in.
In the fall, YES volunteers are taking nine kids on an antelope hunting trip.
The group is launching a Love Our Lake program this summer to clean up Spirit Lake.
Martin and Kymberly, both experienced divers, will dive into the deeper waters of the lake to retrieve trash. Others will snorkel and clean up the shallow waters of Spirit Lake and some will pick up trash along the shore.
The group’s second annual Spirit Lake Drug-Free Carnival is planned for June 21 in City Park. The event, open to community members of all ages, will feature a carnival and games, live music and a “mini Olympics” competition.
The free event runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For information, contact YES at 623-2539.
If you go
Big Back-In
11 a.m., June 15, Maine Street, Spirit Lake, www.bigbackin.com