Turtle Race Report for Wednesday, August 5, 2009 It was one of those crazy, wonderful turtle races. The threat of rain to the nearly 1500 estimated racing enthusiasts was always present but no one but the announcers seemed to notice or care. Of the 442 racers that descended on the racing circle, the happiest were the four racers that emerged as winners. The Grand Winner was nine-year-old Tommy Stout of Sigourney, Iowa. The Grand Slowpoke winners who won in a close tie were ten-year-old Jonah Zaimes of Iowa Falls, Iowa and four year old Brady Bergun of Eagan, MN. The fourth was Resort Race Winner, eight-year-old Hannah Jorgensen of Hampton, Iowa, who with her family was vacationing at Rainbow Bay Resort on Little Boy Lake. Again, the hula-hoop contests and dance contests somehow stole the spotlight during the afternoon. Belting out a loud and clear Chicken Dance song were Rachel Brown of Duluth, Natalie Beiter of Coon Rapids, Jon Link of Eden Prairie, and Christina Larson of Round Lake, IL. Three lucky racers won tickets to Valleyfair and Mall of America events. They were thirteen-year-old Joshua Peterson of Sauk Rapids, MN and ten-year-old Ciara Trojan of Minnetonka, MN. The winner of the $200 ticket package to Mall of America was fifteen-year-old Olivia Given of Austin, MN. The tickets are provided by BL Broadcasting of Brainerd. They operate four radio stations within the Brainerd area and which are heard here in Longville. Sixteen resorts participated in the Resort Turtle Race. They were Pine Haven Resort Blackwater Lake, Longville Inn Downtown Longville, Timber Trails Resort, Boy Lake, Deer Trail Resort, Long Lake, Shady Shores Resort Birch Lake, Rainbow Bay Resort Little Boy Lake, Pine Ridge Resort Girl Lake of Woman Lake Chain, Little Boy Resort Little Boy Lake, Trapper’s Landing Leech Lake, DOK Holiday Resort Woman Lake, View Point Resort, All Seasons Resort, Woman Lake, Thunder Lake Lodge, Thunder Lake, Girl Lake Resort Girl Lake of Woman Lake Chain, Family Traditions Resort Boy Lake. The fun afternoon was made possible by twenty-five great community and business volunteers. Pat Boen had the help of MacKenzie and Machela Macfarlane, Madigan Doherty and Catherine Stagnaro. Anne Broshar, Stan Johnson, and Rose Franta registered racers. Sue Meyer and Jim Felegy sold tickets and souvenirs Diane Kutschied handed out prizes. Game operators were Debbie and Laura Oates, Dodee and Chuck Colberg, Terry Felegy, Geri and Tom Staley, Caroline Townsend, Trever and Tia Lilyquist, Ed Lammers, and Gary Kobi. Gordon Atzen popped a record breaking 225 bags of popcorn. The street monitors were Stan Johnson and Dave Wodrich. Keller Williams Realty, Lakeland Promotions, Frosty’s and North Pines Interiors provided helpers for the races. Setup and teardown were handled by a great crew from Camp Olson, Gerry Broshar, the volunteers and Tony Ozark. Announcing the races and events were John and Sandy Weins and Gerry Broshar.