Sled

MERCERSBURG, Pa. -- There's no time to be graceful when you're sliding down a hill on cardboard and duct tape in less than 15 seconds. Most of the contraptions debuted Sunday demonstrated how the Cedar Ridge Wild & Wacky Cardboard Sled Derby got its name. The homemade sleds often spun their riders in circles or wedged themselves on snowy berms. Fifty-eight entrants submitted sleds big and small for the event hosted on the snowtubing hill at Whitetail Resort. The annual event serves as a fundraiser for Williamsport's Cedar Ridge Ministries and its ropes course.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. - One by one, they slipped and spun down the snowy slope like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on ice. A giant guitar. A video game controller. A pirate ship. A tank. From the sidelines, a crowd cheered and snapped photos. At the bottom, less lucky participants dizzily untangled limbs from wads of cardboard and duct tape. But then, at the Wild & Wacky Cardboard Sled Derby, getting down in one piece isn't always a priority. The event, in its fifth year, is a fundraiser for Cedar Ridge Adventures, a ropes course run by Cedar Ridge Ministries of Williamsport.

MERCERSBURG, PA. - Thirty gallons of glue, six rolls of duct tape and two truckloads of cardboard is "the redneck way to get down a hill," Dan Powell said. The 15-year-old from Boy Scouts Troop 20 of Boonsboro joined more than a hundred other people who bundled up and milled about the base of Whitetail Resort's Adventure Snow Tubing hill Sunday at the fourth annual Cedar Ridge Wild & Wacky Cardboard Sled Derby. The Boy Scouts' sled turned in the fastest time, and the trick, Dan said, was simply "not hitting the wall.

Whether it's tractors or pickups, the pulling season has begun. There will be two truck and tractor pulls this Saturday in the Tri-State area. The Olden Pulling Team is hosting its Truck & Tractor Pull at Washington County Agricultural Education Center starting at 7 p.m. Mountain State Pullers Association will host the first of five truck and tractor pulls this season at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds at 6 p.m. The Washington County pull will raise money for local organizations, including Rohrersville Ruritan and Hagerstown Community College's girls softball team, said event spokeswoman Destinee Olden.

By GREG SIMMONS / Staff Writer photo: MARLA BROSE / staff photographer Mark Rohrer's John Deere 4955 rumbled at the starting line. Black smoke spewed from its smoke stack, and the engine roared. The whine of the turbo was ear-piercing. Then the green tractor bolted down the dirt track, dragging a 30,000-pound sled for 250 feet, the smell of burnt diesel fuel hanging in the air. The Washington County Tractor Pullers Club sponsored a tractor pull Wednesday night at the Washington County Ag Expo.

At first glance, Boonsboro resident Daryl Olden's 1981 K100 Kenworth tractor looks like a typical tractor cab for a tractor-trailer. But look closely at the tires and you'll see a deeper tread for more traction. A peek under the hydraulic hood would unveil a turbo-charger system that pushes more air into the engine while allowing exhaust to exit faster - for more horsepower. Olden, 43, owns Oldens Three D Trucking Co., which does short-hauls such as from Hagerstown to Salisbury, Md. But this particular tractor does even shorter hauls, say about 280 feet down a dirt track pulling a weighted sled.

It's a show of sheer strength: beasts weighing up to 2,000 pounds or more tugging sleds weighing up to 5,200 pounds across the ground. Teams of men and women guide the snorting, prancing horses up to a sled. They quickly hook the horses up to the sled and then let them go. The animals lurch forward and the chains hooked to the animals give a loud crack as the animals dig into the dirt with their hooves. Sunday's annual horse-pulling competition at the Washington County Ag Expo & Fair featured eight teams competing.

By SAMANTHA KRULEWITZ Staff Writer Karen Beckley's done her share of driving a tractor in the fields, but last week she beat out nine men for first place in a tractor-pulling contest at Washington County Ag Expo. "It feels pretty good to beat them," said Beckley, who drove her John Deere 4440 to victory in the 18,500-pound class. "I know someone who got harassed by his wife when they got home. She said, 'How could you let a woman beat you?'" said Beckley. Beckley, who's family farm is on Hopewell Road, started participating in tractor-pulling contests last year.

SHARPSBURG tarar@herald-mail.com Souped up pickup trucks with names like "Bow Tie Beast" and "Protest This" pulled on to a scale to be weighed for competition. Elsewhere around the track, male and female participants sat up high on their farm tractors, waiting for crews to prepare the moist dirt strip for the event. Hundreds of fans packed bleachers, sat in lawn chairs and stood to see which vehicle could top the next in might. Wednesday night was tractor and truck pull time in Washington County.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Little tykes pulled little tractors and a lot of weight at the Kiddie Pedal Pull Saturday afternoon during the last day of events at the Berkeley County Youth Fair. Luke Jones, 3, struggled mightily to pedal a small green tractor carrying a sled and 10 pounds of weight across the stage. "I like John Deere and that was hard to push and that was fun," Luke said excitedly as he threw his arms in the air. Luke's friend, Dylan Painter, wearing a John Deere shirt and small work boots, had pedaled halfway across the stage to much applause.

Much like “Jack and Jill” in the age-old nursery rhyme, participants in the Wild & Wacky Cardboard Sled Derby often came tumbling down the hill Sunday as their sleds fell apart. The eighth annual fundraiser for Cedar Ridge Ministries found teams falling, slipping, sliding and laughing their way down the snow-tubing hill at Whitetail Resort. A dozen young people from Cito United Methodist Church and SMA Youth Ministries in Fulton County, Pa., spent eight hours creating their sled.

Efforts to protect families at Memorial Park snowballed Wednesday as the Waynesboro Borough Council discussed a broader ban on sledding. After some deliberation, the council unanimously placed a ban on sledding at Memorial Park until early February while the borough staff reviews safety options. That decision was tied to concerns about sledders hitting a new fence at the park. “I'm concerned someone is going to be injured,” Borough Manager Lloyd Hamberger said. Some borough officials expressed worries about similar problems with a fence at Northside Pool, which has a hill adjacent to it. Councilman Craig Newcomer said he recently watched sledders near the Northside Pool fence and thought about a fatal sledding accident at Hooverville Elementary School.

1. Lesson to learn Solomon's Dinner Theater will present "Virgil and the City Slickers. " Dinner shows at 6:30 p.m. today and Saturday, Feb. 25; dessert show at 2 p.m. Sunday Feb. 26. Solomon's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4856 Wayne Road, Chambersburg, Pa. Tickets cost $8 to $20. Reservations and prepayment are required. Call 717-267-2266 or 717-264-7845. 2. A healthy you Jill Close-Minella will present "Nutrition for the Best You" at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Discovery Station, 101 W. Washington St., downtown Hagerstown.

It's a show of sheer strength: beasts weighing up to 2,000 pounds or more tugging sleds weighing up to 5,200 pounds across the ground. Teams of men and women guide the snorting, prancing horses up to a sled. They quickly hook the horses up to the sled and then let them go. The animals lurch forward and the chains hooked to the animals give a loud crack as the animals dig into the dirt with their hooves. Sunday's annual horse-pulling competition at the Washington County Ag Expo & Fair featured eight teams competing.

Among the creations was a sled with a simulated toilet mounted on it. Kenn Speaks had it rigged so he could sit on the toilet and read a version of “The White Tales” newspaper as he slid down the slope. Speaks slid off the mountain in his contraption, at one point going backward as he read his paper on the throne. The sled, among others like one carrying Hagerstown firefighters in a simulated firetruck, got a round of laughs Sunday afternoon from hundreds of spectators at Whitetail Resort.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A 10-year-old girl was rescued by Martinsburg Fire Department firefighters Tuesday afternoon after reportedly crashing into a tree while sledding near Marshall Avenue, Lt. Donna Harmison said. The girl was in "good spirits" after firefighters used a 150-foot rope rigging system to bring her up in a basket Harmison said. Reported at 3:02 p.m. near East Burke Street, Harmison said firefighters employed the carriage system because of the steepness of the slope.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- The loud speaker blared, the engines roared and the crowd leaned forward. It was time for the ultimate test between the proverbial immovable object and the irresistible force. It was time for tractor pulling. More than 1,200 people jammed onto the grounds of the Washington County Agricultural Education Center Saturday night to watch tractor and truck pullers from the four-state area compete for monetary prizes and trophies. The event was sponsored by the Western Maryland Pullers Association and featured about 150 modified and hot stock tractors, modified pickup trucks and semis.

Sixteen-year-old Brittany Heller hears the roar in her ears and feels the vibration in her chest when the powerful engines throttle up. Brittany sits on the track guardrail, as close as she's permitted to get to the trucks and tractors as drivers gun the engines and try to pull a weighted sled as far as they can. She is one of thousands of people who attend tractor and truck pulls in the Tri-State area. The season began in April and several pulling events are coming up in the Tri-State area starting this weekend.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. -- There's no time to be graceful when you're sliding down a hill on cardboard and duct tape in less than 15 seconds. Most of the contraptions debuted Sunday demonstrated how the Cedar Ridge Wild & Wacky Cardboard Sled Derby got its name. The homemade sleds often spun their riders in circles or wedged themselves on snowy berms. Fifty-eight entrants submitted sleds big and small for the event hosted on the snowtubing hill at Whitetail Resort. The annual event serves as a fundraiser for Williamsport's Cedar Ridge Ministries and its ropes course.

BLUE RIDGE SUMMIT, Pa. -- "We know there is truly a heaven or Mandy would not be gone," Donna Willard said Saturday, mastering her emotions as she spoke of the late Amanda K. "Mandy" Bowders to a crowd gathered in Blue Ridge Summit at a garden dedicated in Bowders' honor. It has been nearly two years since a sledding accident claimed the life of 19-year-old Mandy Bowders, but to those whose lives she affected, it was as if Mandy was there Saturday night, smiling and laughing while the community honored her spirit through stories, song and prayer.