Some readers may recall the Montague Soapbox Races held from 2010 to 2013. Every September in those four years we saw a spectacle of family and friends’ ingenuity in the variety of hand made carts that came speeding down the First Street hill at Unity Park, Turners Falls. Unfortunately, the race went into hibernation after the fourth year.
Today, a new spirit for the sport has emerged and there will be, amazingly, two races happening in September. Montague is having theirs again on Sept. 19, and Greenfield is joining the fun the Sunday before, on Sept. 12. Parents and their kids are signing up to race. Gear heads are signing up to race. Small companies are signing up to race. And also to sponsor.
Because, as it so happens, these new soapbox races are in fact fundraisers for each town’s recreation department. The funds raised in Montague go towards summer camp scholarships and Greenfield’s profits are earmarked for their new skate park. Local businesses are encouraged to sponsor the races, and everyone is encouraged to build a cart and enter it. You can find rules and forms at the links listed below.
After seeing over a hundred carts go down the hill at Unity Park over the years (and Brattleboro, and Bernardston, and Sharon, Conn.), I feel this kind of competition brings together personal and community pride. Kinetic engineering meets world-wide wrestling, pop music with classical, chipmunks on wheels with floating spaceships, clowns to the left of me, Mr. T to the right. I have seen a box of Tide roll down the hills followed by something straight out of Dr. Seuss.
I believe a sport like this brings together families and neighbors with old fashioned hand-made practical craftsmanship on wheels, with sometimes amazing creativity, and if done right, could tie into the local economy with tourism and commemorative specials, which, all told, benefits everyone involved, one way or the other. It’s good for the world. It’s good for the village.
So this is a call, right here and now, for people to gather family and friends and build something cool or funky or funny or super fast or super cute or what the what and enter it into the races, either town or both. Bring people to cheer you on, and buy a hot dog or a t-shirt while you’re there. Contact the committees for each race to compete, sponsor, or volunteer for something. It’s a grand day.
If you would like to support this sport’s return to Franklin County, and specifically to your own town next year to join in the annual derby circuit, perhaps as a fundraiser for your town’s rec. department, too, please contact me at NortheastSoapbox.org. There’s no fee for the advice and planning documents. I’ll help you get started.
In this year of the Olympics, with Sportsmanship and capability and community pride, and dare I say it American pride, let’s come together and see what we can do with whatever’s banging around in the garage. Run that puppy down the hill in a fun competition while raising money for your town’s recreation department. And maybe win a cool trophy, too.
See you at the races.
Mik Muller, a Montague resident, is a member of Northeast Soapbox Association. For information visit: GreenfieldSoapboxRaces.com and MontagueSoapboxRaces.com.