Summerfest 2009: carry-a-wife race and prize drop big hits

MONTROSE – Smiles beamed across hundreds of people’s faces Saturday at SummerFest, the annual day-long celebration for the Fourth of July.

Celebrating the country’s independence may be the true meaning of the Fourth of July, but to further celebrate that cause, SummerFest provided a plethora of activities for kids and adults alike: tug-of-war, hay barrel toss, pie eating contest, carry-a-wife-race, dunk-tank, motor cross expo, live music, helicopter rides and $50,000 worth of prizes which were dropped from the sky in the form of ping pong balls. Organizer of the event, Polly Hohlenkamp spent most of the day running around making sure things went smoothly. For the first time, SummerFest was held at the property south of Target in the River Landing Shopping Center rather than Baldridge Park. 

“I think it was a really positive experience. This venue was free for us to use which was great. It gave us the opportunity to use the bike trail for the tricycle races, we did the motor cross expo and we were able to do the helicopter as well, Hohlenkamp said.”

The event had many number of firsts including the carry-a-wife race and the big finale in which the helicopter dropped 5,000 ping pong balls each with a number corresponding to a prize donated by the event’s sponsors.

Twenty brave men stepped up the challenge of the carry-a-wife contest in which the husband carries his wife thirty yards, drops her onto a bed with wheels and pushes her to the finish line. A few husbands found themselves eating concrete.

“The first two guys that fell made me feel really bad, but I thought it went really well,” Hohlenkamp said.

“There are a lot of brave men in Montrose. Hats off to those guys, I can’t believe that they did that.” Matt and Mary Baca of Denver braved the challenge and unfortunately Matt tripped while pushing the bed.

“If I would’ve pushed the bed differently I wouldn’t have biffed it,” Matt Baca said. “The wheel hit my foot and I tripped.”

“I thought I was going to fall,” Mary Baca said.

Michael and April Tobler of Montrose had better luck, completing the race in less than 16 seconds and without any scratches.

“Considering we didn’t practice, we did well,” Michael Tobler said. “I didn’t trip and didn’t fall and got her home safely.”

SummerFest saw a consistent crowd throughout the day, but the people really started piling in minutes before 3 p.m. – the release of the ping pong balls.

People had their own strategies to catching the balls. Shopping bags, umbrellas and fishing nets were some the devices used.

Bonnie Olea of Olathe used an umbrella with double sided tape on top. It didn’t work.

“I’m a little disappointed, but it’s OK it’s still fun,” Olea said.

Colleen Carnine, visiting from Bozeman, Montana, tried a fishing net.

“We hope it works. We’re going to give it a whirl,” Carnine said.

Alex Davis, 13, from Montrose, just used his hands and made sure he knew where the helicopter was going. He caught eight ping pong balls.

“I just made sure to always stay in front of the helicopter,” Davis said. “I was able to swerve in between people and if I saw it on the ground, pick it up as fast as possible.”

And in the Fourth of July spirit, Davis gave away three of his balls.

“I just figured it’d be polite,” Davis said. “They didn’t have any so I gave them some of mine.”

 Josh Lambuth and Jessica Keith of Montrose were two of the recipients.

“I really appreciate it,” Lambuth said. “We talk about kids all the time and not being respectful, but that he shared his prize with us was very gracious. I’m glad we still got kids here like that.”

After people retrieved their ping pong balls, they exchanged them for their prize. Prizes ranged from gift certificates to local restaurants to money donations for college. With 5,000 ping pong balls, giving out people’s prizes took better than an hour.

Asked if anything could be changed, Hohlenkamp said the redemption of the ping pong balls could have gone more smoothly.

Most people though were impressed with SummerFest.

“It’s different here,” Mary Baca said. “They don’t have stuff like this in Denver; it’s fun.”

And many people after SummerFest were planning to go home and BB-Q before watching the fireworks, which were shot off at Sunset Mesa.

“I know Montrose is happy, Hohlenkamp said.”