My Article on the Demolition Derby :]

‘More fun Than Kicking a Dead Chicken!’
-Erica Rawley

Unfortunately, though I’ve never had the opportunity to kick a dead chicken, I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say that the Demolition Derby at the Sanpete County Fair this past Thursday was, in fact, a whole heck of a lot more fun than kicking dead foul. Actually, before Thursday I’d never had the opportunity to go to a Demolition Derby, either. Ah the joys living in a small town brings to your life!

It was quite an adventure just getting into the Derby. Jessica, my trusty photographer (and roommate), and I got to the Derby about half an hour before it was scheduled to start, but little did we know that 1. You needed a ticket to get in and 2. The tickets were sold out.

WOOHOO!

So I pulled the “I’m with the ‘paper’” card, batted my eyelashes and they let us in! I knew I loved small-town people for a reason.

Anyways, so the two announcers bantered back and forth about their awesomeness, the awesomeness of the rodeo royalty, and how much they were looking forward to the awesome destruction that was about to commence. Call me crazy but from what I gathered, I think they thought it was going to be pretty freaking awesome.

And then finally, after twenty years of waiting, the dilapidated cars bounced their way into the tire-encased dirt arena; engines growling, idling in some sort of special Derby arrangement, like cop dogs that wait ever so patiently for the command of their officer to let them loose to rip into the flesh of the perpetrator. And then their moment came; the announcers counted down from three and they were off! Flinging giant rooster tails of dirt and kicking up insane amounts of dust. I loved it! And after the first two or three cars flipped over and got stuck on the tires surrounding the arena, I got sidetracked by the people around me. The cute little snot that kept kicking me in the back, the munchkin and his little sister that played on the fence, and the cuties with their fun little light saber-jobs; I think I had more fun watching them enjoy themselves than watching the cars smash into each other like bumper cars on acid.

After one of the heats, the car that got the last smash jumped out of his car, ripped off his helmet, and dashed over to the fence to hug his baby girl. That was the best part of the night. Yes watching testosterone driven cars speed around crashing into each other is great fun, but when you really get down to it, being outside and spending time with your family and friends is really what it’s all about. In such a small, out of the way community such as Manti-Ephraim, good entertainment is hard to come by. But when everyone pulls together and makes fun out of seemingly mundane things, that’s when true fun is had and priceless memories are made.