Tioga County Fair. OK, quick
pro quo for racers..this is a
multiple choice version that
I'm sure most can relate to,
chose all that apply..
A.) The race car is running,
but the tow truck is not.
B.) The race car is running,
but the trailer lights aren't
working...again.
C.) The race car is running
and the lawn is ready for the
'first cut'.
D.) The trailer lights are finally
working, the tow truck is now
running, and the race car has
mysteriously now decided not
to...
E.) All of the above.
If you chose E.) then we can
relate. A call to George
Hoffmier of the Tioga County
Fair this week netted us some
track time at the Owego oval in
conjunction with our show -
'so long as you don't go racing
them,' George related. I
promised we'd keep them
under 100.. I figured the car
was basically ready, clean
enough from the 5MP
excursion through the parking
lot (it got muddier there than
on the track), and threw the
batter charger on it. And got
back to chopping wood, and
mowing the lawn.. As the old
saying goes - "The Wise Men
Say Nothing, But Chop Wood.
How Big Is Your Woodpile?"
Well, not so big, yet, but I'm
working on it. Former racer
Darwin Wood dropped off a
pile for me this week and with
fuel prices headed through the
roof I figured it's time to try
the wood furnace out in the
cellar. I got a quick reminder
in 'Wood Handling Technique'
right off the bat. If you have
any ails bothering you then I
have a simple solution: Drop a
chunk of wood on your pinky
toe and you'll immediately
forget about all those (other)
ailments...
OK, enough of the wood, the
lawns mowed er, close
enough..tried to get Belvedere
to do it, he did a lousy job -
'BAD DOG, YOU CALL THAT
MOWING THE LAWN?! NO
BISCUIT!' - (ok, I stole that
from Gary Larson but I always
liked the 'Far Side'). Where
was I? Oh yeah - onto the
racecar, fires right up - yahoo!
Let's hook 'er up..CLick!
C'mon. CLick! @#$%^&*!! I'm
sweaty, tired, and gettin' ugly.
Throw the charger on the old
truck, battery is right up.
@#@$%^&*!! CLick! @#$%^&*!
'I'm not gonna fix it' is going
through my mind as I ponder
throwing a plate on the
Teardrop and driving to
Owego. Clean terminals.
CLick! My neighbors must
think I'm insane by now as a
torrent of expletives flows from
my inner depths... What can it
be? Crawl under the beast
with a trouble light, has to be
the starter or a bad
connection...that looks kinda
groty..I reach up to the wire
and it crumbles in my hand,
AHAAH!! Bingo! It's only been
spliced twice before...clip! New
connector, c'mon baby..this
time, RRR, RRR, VROOM!!!
YEAHHH!! Who says gettin'
ugly doesn't help??
Saturday morn andit's hook
up time, finish the lawn, saw
some wood and off we go to
Owego for the Tioga County
Fair and a trip around the the
old horse track. They raced big
cars here too in the 1940's as
Alan Tatich has pointed out
and the Midstate club actually
made one apperance here as
well in the 1980's, but not too
many stock cars have been on
the track so this is a treat.
It's hot. Pulling in I see that
Larry and Howdy Witter have
their #4 in place and smiles on
their faces. the Teardrop
unloads easily and I pull it up
next to their Chevy. Better call
Jim Chase to let him know the
route into the fairgrounds as
it's changed from last year.
Soon the Kennedy 67 is in
line and we've got a nice
display set up. Now for some
bench racing - did I mention is
was hot?? Too hot, and not a
lot of fairgoers this day due to
it. Still, many onlookers with
curious questions, not many
have seen cars like these..
There's a fellow across from us
cutting out sculptures with a
chain saw, he does excellent
work. Wonder if he'd like to
sculpt me some firewood??
The Lions and Tigers (no
bears, sigh..) are next to us
again this year, magnificant
animals - 30 lbs of meat a day
per - that's a lot of hot
dogs..The tractor display is
nice and I get a whiff of the
sweet smell of horse manure,
gotta check that out. Some
beautiful draft horses are
going through their routines.
Really a nice county fair and
I'm sure it picked up later but
while we were there, the crowd
was down a bit. We grab
something to eat and look at
the track - it's bone dry dusty
and we'll kick up too much of
it I'm sure. Even the tractor
pulls are kicking up clouds
and they have the front stretch
blocked with trailers - dang -
no track time today but
honestly, it didn't matter. Just
to get out and see friends, talk
racing, get a tan and have a
laugh or two was worth it. An
enjoyable time at the Tigoa
County Fair and a truck that
actually runs when I hit the
button, not bad. Now, back to
the lawn and wood which
awaits, at least I'll get some
good exercise??
pro quo for racers..this is a
multiple choice version that
I'm sure most can relate to,
chose all that apply..
A.) The race car is running,
but the tow truck is not.
B.) The race car is running,
but the trailer lights aren't
working...again.
C.) The race car is running
and the lawn is ready for the
'first cut'.
D.) The trailer lights are finally
working, the tow truck is now
running, and the race car has
mysteriously now decided not
to...
E.) All of the above.
If you chose E.) then we can
relate. A call to George
Hoffmier of the Tioga County
Fair this week netted us some
track time at the Owego oval in
conjunction with our show -
'so long as you don't go racing
them,' George related. I
promised we'd keep them
under 100.. I figured the car
was basically ready, clean
enough from the 5MP
excursion through the parking
lot (it got muddier there than
on the track), and threw the
batter charger on it. And got
back to chopping wood, and
mowing the lawn.. As the old
saying goes - "The Wise Men
Say Nothing, But Chop Wood.
How Big Is Your Woodpile?"
Well, not so big, yet, but I'm
working on it. Former racer
Darwin Wood dropped off a
pile for me this week and with
fuel prices headed through the
roof I figured it's time to try
the wood furnace out in the
cellar. I got a quick reminder
in 'Wood Handling Technique'
right off the bat. If you have
any ails bothering you then I
have a simple solution: Drop a
chunk of wood on your pinky
toe and you'll immediately
forget about all those (other)
ailments...
OK, enough of the wood, the
lawns mowed er, close
enough..tried to get Belvedere
to do it, he did a lousy job -
'BAD DOG, YOU CALL THAT
MOWING THE LAWN?! NO
BISCUIT!' - (ok, I stole that
from Gary Larson but I always
liked the 'Far Side'). Where
was I? Oh yeah - onto the
racecar, fires right up - yahoo!
Let's hook 'er up..CLick!
C'mon. CLick! @#$%^&*!! I'm
sweaty, tired, and gettin' ugly.
Throw the charger on the old
truck, battery is right up.
@#@$%^&*!! CLick! @#$%^&*!
'I'm not gonna fix it' is going
through my mind as I ponder
throwing a plate on the
Teardrop and driving to
Owego. Clean terminals.
CLick! My neighbors must
think I'm insane by now as a
torrent of expletives flows from
my inner depths... What can it
be? Crawl under the beast
with a trouble light, has to be
the starter or a bad
connection...that looks kinda
groty..I reach up to the wire
and it crumbles in my hand,
AHAAH!! Bingo! It's only been
spliced twice before...clip! New
connector, c'mon baby..this
time, RRR, RRR, VROOM!!!
YEAHHH!! Who says gettin'
ugly doesn't help??
Saturday morn andit's hook
up time, finish the lawn, saw
some wood and off we go to
Owego for the Tioga County
Fair and a trip around the the
old horse track. They raced big
cars here too in the 1940's as
Alan Tatich has pointed out
and the Midstate club actually
made one apperance here as
well in the 1980's, but not too
many stock cars have been on
the track so this is a treat.
It's hot. Pulling in I see that
Larry and Howdy Witter have
their #4 in place and smiles on
their faces. the Teardrop
unloads easily and I pull it up
next to their Chevy. Better call
Jim Chase to let him know the
route into the fairgrounds as
it's changed from last year.
Soon the Kennedy 67 is in
line and we've got a nice
display set up. Now for some
bench racing - did I mention is
was hot?? Too hot, and not a
lot of fairgoers this day due to
it. Still, many onlookers with
curious questions, not many
have seen cars like these..
There's a fellow across from us
cutting out sculptures with a
chain saw, he does excellent
work. Wonder if he'd like to
sculpt me some firewood??
The Lions and Tigers (no
bears, sigh..) are next to us
again this year, magnificant
animals - 30 lbs of meat a day
per - that's a lot of hot
dogs..The tractor display is
nice and I get a whiff of the
sweet smell of horse manure,
gotta check that out. Some
beautiful draft horses are
going through their routines.
Really a nice county fair and
I'm sure it picked up later but
while we were there, the crowd
was down a bit. We grab
something to eat and look at
the track - it's bone dry dusty
and we'll kick up too much of
it I'm sure. Even the tractor
pulls are kicking up clouds
and they have the front stretch
blocked with trailers - dang -
no track time today but
honestly, it didn't matter. Just
to get out and see friends, talk
racing, get a tan and have a
laugh or two was worth it. An
enjoyable time at the Tigoa
County Fair and a truck that
actually runs when I hit the
button, not bad. Now, back to
the lawn and wood which
awaits, at least I'll get some
good exercise??
Update 7/27/08
Larry Witter forwarded this picture of the newly
wedded Sue and Howard Witter Jr. (Howdy) for
our enjoyment. Congrats to the happy couple!
wedded Sue and Howard Witter Jr. (Howdy) for
our enjoyment. Congrats to the happy couple!
