A Living Legacy
Saturday, April 20th 9-11 Pancake Breakfast starts at 9 a.m. Cost: $5.00 per person 4 and under free Breakfast is pancakes, sausage, coffee or milk ALL YOU CAN EAT!! Easter Egg Hunt will begin promptly at 11. Events held at Lodge and area between Lodge and Arrowhead for Egg Hunt.
Sponsored by the Choctaw Boosters!
8:00PM-1:00AM at the Lodge.
$10.00 per person or $15.00 per couple.
DJ, Karaoke, and Games provided.
BYOB and Snacks.
Don’t forget to put our Community Days events on your calendar for Sept. 2 &3!
Junkyard Boat Derby ( Registration 2:30, race at 3:30) Sponsored by Booster Club.
Rudy’s Barbeque 5-7 served at Arrowhead. Pork or chicken, sides. $8 adult, $6 under 10. Drinks available. Enjoy in our picnic areas!
Cornhole Tournament at Basketball Court. (Registration 5:30, begins 6:00) $5/ entry, pay on day of tournament. Get your own team of 2! Pre-register at office or PM Ken Petry or Angela Watson on Nextdoor. 50% entries to winners! Info available on website. Cancelled if bad weather.
Summer Concert 6-8. Mo Pitney, well-known country-western singer, will entertain!
Twisted Treats will provide free ice cream ( up to 315). Sponsored by Wilderman Realty.
50-50 Raffle all day long. Drawing at 7 PM. Benefits Musician’s Club.
Pancake Breakfast 9-11 AM at Lodge. Sponsored by Booster’s Club. Cost is $5, children under 4 free.
COME JOIN YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS FOR FUN, FOOD AND GREAT CONVERSATION!
You might seem rather brash
Digging through your neighbor’s trash,
But if you want to make a splash,
And maybe also win some cash…
COME AND JOIN THE JUNKYARD DASH!
The 2018 Booster Club Junkyard Boat Derby will take place as usual, the day before Labor Day as part of Choctaw’s Community Days celebration: Sunday, September 2nd at 3:30 p.m. The rules and guidelines are as follows:
Anything that floats and meets the guidelines below is eligible to enter.
All registration forms need to be filled out COMPLETELY AND LEGIBLY, including e-mail address, phone number, and age category, and name of boat. THE NAME AND AGE OF EACH PERSON ON BOARD MUST BE ON THE FORM. THE AGE OF THE OLDEST PERSON ON BOARD DETERMINES WHICH HEAT EACH BOAT ENTERS.
The registration table will be set up at the beach at 2:30 p.m. on race day, and all boats must be registered and lined up at the beach, READY TO RACE by 3:30 p.m. at which time the emcee will start interviewing the contestants. The race begins after all contestants have been interviewed.
Each heat will start when the judge determines that all boats are lined up properly behind the starting line. The announcer will give the signal.
Entrants under the age of 18 must have written permission from a parent or guardian and be accompanied by a designated adult during the race.
Racers in the 12 & under category MUST wear a Coast Guard Approved Flotation Device.
Awards will be given in the following overall categories: Anchor Dragger (last place) will receive a replica of an anchor as well as a certificate. Other categories are: Best Team Spirit, Best-Looking Boat, Best Costume, Best Use of Materials, Most Creative, Wackiest Boat, Most Ingenious Design, and Most Likely to Sink. Prizes will be provided by local business sponsors.
There will be three heats: 12 and under, 13-17, and adult (18 and over). Cash prizes provided by the Booster Club will be awarded for each boat that places first ($50) or second ($25) in each of those age categories.
Entry forms will be at the beach on race day from 2:30 pm until the start of the race. Alternatively, download yours now and beat the rush!
by Sally Lane
After two wintry days with daytime temperatures in the fifties, high winds, and rain —- unbelievably, just as the meteorologists predicted, the sun came out, the winds died down, and Choctaw Lake had perfect weather for a boat race!
Eleven boats showed up to compete (others may have been discouraged by the pre-race weather). Mantis 3, paddled by Sophia Neely, placed first (1:51) in the 12 and Under race; and Displaced, the boat judged “Most Likely to Sink,” actually came in second (2:39) with a crew of three: Nathan, Lilly, and Annabelle Lohrer. Displaced was constructed of milk jugs held together with good old trusty duct tape. Tori Martinez placed third (3:35) in Flash, a canoe shaped boat made of cardboard, styrofoam, and duct tape and dubbed “Wackiest Boat” by the judges. Valiantly pulling up the rear were Charlie Neely and Benji Lutz in Magic Rino, earning them the highly prized “Anchor Dragger” award (4:50).
A new boat showed up in the 12-17 age heat to challenge the Neely fleet: a soap barrel boat for two named Taxi and appropriately painted bright yellow, paddled by Amber and Ashton Wolford. They placed first (1:30) and also won the “Best Looking” and “Team Spirit” awards. Maggie Long, a member of the Neely clan, placed second (1:56) in the original Mantis. Two more Neely entries, Ned Neely in Cyclopes and Jared Long in Ye Olde Fish placed 3rd (2:14) and 4th (2:27) respectively. All of the Neely boats collectively received the prize for “Best Use of Materials”.
The adult race was fraught with troubles. Becky Calis, in 4 Months Till Winter, tipped over before the race began. The sinking vessel was a broken sled duct taped to styrofoam noodles. As she was struggling to get back aboard, Sally Lane’s outrigger kayak, Single-Handed (so-named because one hand was recovering from an encounter with a power saw), began taking on water. By the time the starting horn sounded, Sally’s boat was almost full, and barely afloat. When the makeshift sail she had attached in hopes for a little help from a crosswind, fell into the water and blocked her paddle, Sally’s husband John pulled ahead in his boat, Beat My Wife. It did, placing him first in the overall race with a time of 1:09. Single-Handed managed second place (1:22), and 4 Months Till Winter came limping over the finish line at 4:37, missing the “Anchor Dragger” award by 13 seconds. But Becky did win “Best Costume” award with her Salmon Hat which was a hit! Single-Handed and Beat My Wife won the “Most Ingenious” and “Most Creative Boat” awards, respectively.
Back by popular demand, Emcee, Andy Mauck, returned from cage-swimming with great whites in Mexico just in time to entertain the crowd with his off-the cuff humor and great announcing. We appreciate Phil Chin, who donated his photographic talent to take outstanding pictures again this year. Sener Calis also took pictures, which can be on Facebook. Thanks to judges, Brian Welch, Mike Donaldson, Denise Worthington, and Tia Sexton, who selected the special award winners, timed the race, and made sure rules were followed. John Lane and Dennis Mitchell performed a multitude of tasks including operating the sound and setting up and taking down the canopy, generously lent to us by Barb and Jeff Niemeyer. Ron Roach worked diligently throughout with registration, recording, and filling out certificates. He was assisted by Pam Donaldson. Last but not least, big thanks to all the unnamed spontaneous volunteers who jumped into the water to help the boaters get launched at the starting line and then helped them disembark at the finish line!!!
The Booster Club gave $50 cash for each first place winner and $25 cash for second place in each heat. A huge special thank you to Lakeside Market for providing gift certificates for every participant, win or lose! Al and Angie Wilderman at ReMax Leading Edge donated award certificates to each crew member of a winning boat, including all special categories. Thanks, also, to the following for special award prizes: Dock Pizza for gift cards, Ernie’s Medicine Shoppe for a Schleich Knight and horse, Fine Designs Coffee and Gifts for a box of their famous fudge, and John and Sally Lane for a Yahtzee game and the Anchor Dragger plaque. The local business sponsors who support Lake activities deserve our support in turn!
That wraps up the 15th annual Junkyard Boat Derby. It’s never too early to start collecting trash and dreaming up designs for next year!
