Sled

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.

Thousands came to the Mason Dixon Dragway Saturday night for the gear-grinding, piston-popping, dirt-kicking, smoke-belching and eardrum-pounding action of pickups, tractors and semis pitting huge amounts of horsepower against a 30,000-pound sled designed to stop them in their tracks. The parking lot where pickups and sport utility vehicles outnumbered cars by about 2-to-1 was packed for the event hosted by the Washington County Tractor Pullers Association, featuring six classes of tractors that never pulled a plow and semis that need a semi to haul them from pull to pull.

HAGERSTOWN-Thousands came to the Mason Dixon Dragway Saturday night for the gear-grinding, piston-popping, dirt-kicking, smoke-belching and eardrum-pounding action of pickups, tractors and semis pitting huge amounts of horsepower against a 30,000-pound sled designed to stop them in their tracks. The parking lot where pickups and sport utility vehicles outnumbered cars by about 2-to-1 was packed for the event hosted by the Washington County Tractor Pullers Association, featuring six classes of tractors that never pulled a plow and semis that need a semi to haul them from pull to pull.

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.

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.

HAGERSTOWN julieg@herald-mail.com Standing along the short chain-link fence separating spectators from the track at Mason-Dixon Dragway, the sound was loud enough to make people feel their eardrums vibrating. Noise. That's what brought some of the spectators as well as the drivers to Saturday's tractor pull held by the Washington County Tractor Pullers Club. The dragway is along U.S. 40 east of Hagerstown. Thousands of people attended the tractor pull with many bringing their own seats - lawn chairs or pickup beds, and some brought ear muffs.

tammyb@herald-mail.com SHARPSBURG - It's a heavy burden, but a horde of folks young and old were ready Saturday to shoulder it. Or pull it, as it were. And really, what's a farm fair without a tractor pull - or two or three? It was midafternoon when the first batch of drivers gathered for the garden tractor pull at the 24th annual Washington County Ag Expo. Would-be spectators drifted into the stands at the Washington County Agricultural Education Center even though the sky looked like slate and a little blond-haired girl, pointing northwest, declared she'd seen lightning.

tarar@herald-mail.com SHARPSBURG - The strategy was simple enough Saturday for four Boy Scouts from Greencastle, Pa. They would line up in a row with each foot placed on slabs of wood resembling walking sleds, use ropes to hoist the wood and then try to go a short distance without their feet touching the ground. "Left up! Right up!" Adam Stouffer, 15, shouted to his teammates lined up behind him on the same two pieces of wood. Tim Bair, 15, said Saturday was the team's first "walking sled" attempt at this year's Winter Camporee at the Washington County Agricultural Education Center.

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.

bonnieb@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Small white kites dotted the sky over the brilliantly green meadow at Renfrew Park Saturday afternoon. A child held the string of each kite, either admiring its flight or running with it to send it aloft. A hawk flew over, as though checking out the competition in his territory. There wasn't a lot of wind, but the light sled kites don't need much, and they flew well. Interspersed among the small kites were a few large, colorful kites flown by adult kite fanciers All were enjoying the perfect spring day at the 11th Annual Spring Fun Fly at the park in Waynesboro.