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Charity cleans up at mud bogging event
  
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Tom Joyce
Staff Reporter
Lured by the can’t-miss, crowd-pleasing combination of deep mud and powerful engines, hundreds of people attended an annual gathering Saturday in the Beulah community which raised about $10,000 for a children’s charity.
The mud-bogging event now in it’s fourth year included around 75 trucks, SUVs and other vehicles that took turns plowing through 200-foot-long pits, trying to place first among three categories of competition staged at a large field on York Road.
But when the muck and mire had settled by late afternoon, the big winner was the Duke’s Children Hospital and Health Center, which will receive all the proceeds. The money will fund research, along with medical care, education and toys for the kids.
In a year when there is plenty of political mud-slinging, everyone associated with the variety on display Saturday seemed pleased with the outcome.
Sherrie DeHart, one of the organizers for the event who is a volunteer with a local Children’s Miracle Network support group made up of Wal-Mart employees, put the attendance at between 600 and 700 people. Children’s Miracle Network is a nonprofit organization that financially supports a 170-member network of hospitals in the treatment of kids across North America.
“We’re well-pleased,” said Tammy Bowman, another of the 30 or so volunteers in the group who assisted with Saturday’s gathering, for which adults plucked down an admission cost of $10 apiece. Meanwhile, the many kids under 12 who were in attendance were let in free.
The activities included not only the mud racing itself, but also “watermelon crawls,” which involved youths running through the mire trying to be the first to find and secure the slippery fruit, and sales of T-shirts and concessions. “We already sold all our shirts,” DeHart reported happily around mid-afternoon.
Spectators were revved up by all that was going on, too.
Before the competition, they sat patiently in lawn chairs or stood around tarps that dotted the hillside as rock and country music blared from a sound system. They grew energized as the competition began and quickly lined the sides of the pit as the big trucks slogged past. The crowd cheered wildly for each entrant, dodging spatters of mud that swirled from the large tires.
And while many hardcore off-road enthusiasts were in attendance, other people there — representing all age groups — seemed to just have a desire to experience the sport up close and personal.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a mud-bogging competition,” said Mark Hanson of Dobson, who was there with his wife Amy, their son, Reece, 4, and Reece’s friend, Ben Harrison, also 4, from Lowgap. The boys had taken part in their first sleepover the night before in anticipation of Saturday’s show.
“A lot of it is just curiosity,” Hanson said of the reasons for bringing his family to the Beulah site, pointing out that he thought it would be a special treat for the kids. “I have a Jeep, and I’ve always looked at this type of stuff on TV.”
“Plus, it’s for a good cause,” added the Dobson resident.
Also in the crowd was a grandmother from Lowgap, Lettie Mae Tate, who decided to take her two grandchildren, Kayla Hooks, 10, and Ethan Hooks, 6, to the mud bogging. “This is the first time I’ve ever went,” the elderly woman said with a smile as Kayla stood alongside, caked with mud from an earlier romp through a pit where the watermelons had been.
Lisa Johnson, a communications officer at the Mount Airy Police Department, said she enjoyed the 2007 mud bogging so much that she made a special point to attend Saturday’s. “It’s getting bigger every year,” said Johnson, who came with her sons Justin, 8, and Levi, 7, first-timers to the event who seemed to enjoy all they were witnessing.
Johnson agreed that its key ingredients of “power and mud” are an attraction for her. “It’s a lot of fun.”
The Competition
Many of the drivers appeared to have trouble negotiating the deep mud in the pits. Their trucks would plow powerfully through the mire at a steady pace as the audience shouted encouragement, only to bog down about halfway into the course with wheels spinning. This would lead to the summoning of a Kubota tractor to rescue them from the unforgiving pit.
Big Ford trucks or International Scouts that went in with bright red or orange paint jobs would come out at the other end coated thoroughly with the same thick shade of brown.
“I think the rain last night may have hurt a little bit,” DeHart said of a Friday downpour that apparently made the course harder to maneuver than usual.
But two competitors seemed to stand out among the rest in their abilities to tame the tough mud of Beulah. One was Sean Ramey, sponsored by Ramey Logging, who piloted a 1979 Ford F-150 to success, including a victory in “bad monkey” competition. That is a timed event in which teams must switch drivers and passengers have to touch a stuffed monkey on a pole to stop the time.
Another competitor who made a “big splash” in the competition was Alanna Smith, who worked behind the wheel of a 1988 Ford F-3 pickup with 44-inch tires.
In addition to trying to achieve the best time through the pits, drivers also were judged on how far they could throw the mud.
The mud bogging was held on a 20-acre site owned by Eric Vannieuwkoop, 32, who takes part in similar competitions across the country. The local event held in 2007 raised nearly $8,000 for Relay for Life, a campaign of the American Cancer Society. This year’s mud bogging was dedicating to the memory of Vannieuwkoop’s father, who passed away from cancer almost two years ago.
Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtaiynews.com or at 719-1924.
Staff Reporter
Lured by the can’t-miss, crowd-pleasing combination of deep mud and powerful engines, hundreds of people attended an annual gathering Saturday in the Beulah community which raised about $10,000 for a children’s charity.
The mud-bogging event now in it’s fourth year included around 75 trucks, SUVs and other vehicles that took turns plowing through 200-foot-long pits, trying to place first among three categories of competition staged at a large field on York Road.
But when the muck and mire had settled by late afternoon, the big winner was the Duke’s Children Hospital and Health Center, which will receive all the proceeds. The money will fund research, along with medical care, education and toys for the kids.
In a year when there is plenty of political mud-slinging, everyone associated with the variety on display Saturday seemed pleased with the outcome.
Sherrie DeHart, one of the organizers for the event who is a volunteer with a local Children’s Miracle Network support group made up of Wal-Mart employees, put the attendance at between 600 and 700 people. Children’s Miracle Network is a nonprofit organization that financially supports a 170-member network of hospitals in the treatment of kids across North America.
“We’re well-pleased,” said Tammy Bowman, another of the 30 or so volunteers in the group who assisted with Saturday’s gathering, for which adults plucked down an admission cost of $10 apiece. Meanwhile, the many kids under 12 who were in attendance were let in free.
The activities included not only the mud racing itself, but also “watermelon crawls,” which involved youths running through the mire trying to be the first to find and secure the slippery fruit, and sales of T-shirts and concessions. “We already sold all our shirts,” DeHart reported happily around mid-afternoon.
Spectators were revved up by all that was going on, too.
Before the competition, they sat patiently in lawn chairs or stood around tarps that dotted the hillside as rock and country music blared from a sound system. They grew energized as the competition began and quickly lined the sides of the pit as the big trucks slogged past. The crowd cheered wildly for each entrant, dodging spatters of mud that swirled from the large tires.
And while many hardcore off-road enthusiasts were in attendance, other people there — representing all age groups — seemed to just have a desire to experience the sport up close and personal.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a mud-bogging competition,” said Mark Hanson of Dobson, who was there with his wife Amy, their son, Reece, 4, and Reece’s friend, Ben Harrison, also 4, from Lowgap. The boys had taken part in their first sleepover the night before in anticipation of Saturday’s show.
“A lot of it is just curiosity,” Hanson said of the reasons for bringing his family to the Beulah site, pointing out that he thought it would be a special treat for the kids. “I have a Jeep, and I’ve always looked at this type of stuff on TV.”
“Plus, it’s for a good cause,” added the Dobson resident.
Also in the crowd was a grandmother from Lowgap, Lettie Mae Tate, who decided to take her two grandchildren, Kayla Hooks, 10, and Ethan Hooks, 6, to the mud bogging. “This is the first time I’ve ever went,” the elderly woman said with a smile as Kayla stood alongside, caked with mud from an earlier romp through a pit where the watermelons had been.
Lisa Johnson, a communications officer at the Mount Airy Police Department, said she enjoyed the 2007 mud bogging so much that she made a special point to attend Saturday’s. “It’s getting bigger every year,” said Johnson, who came with her sons Justin, 8, and Levi, 7, first-timers to the event who seemed to enjoy all they were witnessing.
Johnson agreed that its key ingredients of “power and mud” are an attraction for her. “It’s a lot of fun.”
The Competition
Many of the drivers appeared to have trouble negotiating the deep mud in the pits. Their trucks would plow powerfully through the mire at a steady pace as the audience shouted encouragement, only to bog down about halfway into the course with wheels spinning. This would lead to the summoning of a Kubota tractor to rescue them from the unforgiving pit.
Big Ford trucks or International Scouts that went in with bright red or orange paint jobs would come out at the other end coated thoroughly with the same thick shade of brown.
“I think the rain last night may have hurt a little bit,” DeHart said of a Friday downpour that apparently made the course harder to maneuver than usual.
But two competitors seemed to stand out among the rest in their abilities to tame the tough mud of Beulah. One was Sean Ramey, sponsored by Ramey Logging, who piloted a 1979 Ford F-150 to success, including a victory in “bad monkey” competition. That is a timed event in which teams must switch drivers and passengers have to touch a stuffed monkey on a pole to stop the time.
Another competitor who made a “big splash” in the competition was Alanna Smith, who worked behind the wheel of a 1988 Ford F-3 pickup with 44-inch tires.
In addition to trying to achieve the best time through the pits, drivers also were judged on how far they could throw the mud.
The mud bogging was held on a 20-acre site owned by Eric Vannieuwkoop, 32, who takes part in similar competitions across the country. The local event held in 2007 raised nearly $8,000 for Relay for Life, a campaign of the American Cancer Society. This year’s mud bogging was dedicating to the memory of Vannieuwkoop’s father, who passed away from cancer almost two years ago.
Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtaiynews.com or at 719-1924.
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