Watch your toes if you’re standing on West street Friday night. Better yet, move out of the way! Blindfolded lawnmower operators will be maneuvering through a series of obstacles in front of the post office from 7 to 8 p.m. as part of the Charley Melvin Mad Bomber Run For Your Life festivities.
About 24 teams of two are expected to enter the race, said coordinator Mike Ford.
Each team will have a blindfolded driver, plus a navigator who runs beside them, directing them through straw bales, traffic cones and the like. Each driver must make one loop through the course, returning to the starting point.
If all goes as planned, four riding mowers — all have been loaned by O’Malley Equipment of Iola — will be racing concurrently.
Ford hopes to have two mowers each moving east and west from their starting point in front of the post office.
“I had seen (such a race) years before and it’s a hoot to watch,” Ford said.
Ford noted it’s a fun, free way to enjoy the wackiness associated with the Mad Bomber Run.
Those interested in participating should sign up as soon as possible at Thrive Allen County, 365-8128, or info@thriveallencounty.org.
IF POKING someone with a stick is more your style, sign up for “Adult Jousting.”
Jousts take place at 8 p.m., following the lawnmower race.
Jousters will take their posts in an inflatable ring and use soft staves that appear more like “giant Q-tips,” Ford said.
Jousters will pay $5 each to fight three rounds, Ford said. Winner of each match gets his or her money back, and the loser’s pot goes to support efforts of Allen County Crimestoppers and Thrive Allen County.
Teams of four also can sign up — Ford suggested local businesses can express their healthy competitive side with one another this way.
Team sign up fee is $20. Call Thrive to register.
FRIDAY’S activities begin at 4 p.m. with an inflatable carnival set up on the courthouse lawn. The inflatables will be in place until 11.
A car show, along Washington Avenue, starts at 5:30.
The lawnmower races and adult jousting precede an outdoor movie, the 1985 Michael J. Fox film “Back To The Future,” which will be shown on a giant inflatable screen from 9 to 10:30.
A “drag race” features prominent Iolans donning dresses, or women wearing suits, for a relay race. The drag “queen” will be crowned at the conclusion of the race.
The scene returns to West Street in front of the post office at midnight for The Four-Day Barbershop Quartet, consisting of Jim and Ken Gilpin, Jim Rausch and Dan Johnson.
The telling of Charley Melvin’s bombing of three local saloons in 1905 starts at 12:15, wrapping up at 12:26, at which time another blast will serve as the starting gun for the 5-kilometer Charley Melvin Mad Bomber Run For Your Life. Those unable or unwilling to run such a distance are welcome to partake in a 3-kilometer walk.
Both the run and walk will end back at the square.
