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The Forsyth County News
Opinion
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On your payroll
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor, H. Ford Gravitt
P.O. Box 3177
Cumming, GA 30028
(770)887-4342
Mayor Pro-Tem, Lewis
Ledbetter
205 Mountain Brook Drive
Cumming, GA 30040
(770)887-3019
Ralph Perry
1420 Pilgrim Road
Cumming, GA 30040
(770)887-7474
Quincy Holton
103 Hickory Ridge Drive
Cumming, GA 30040
(770)887-5279
Rupert Sexton
705 Pine Lake Drive
Cumming, GA 30040
(770)887-4332
John Pugh
10813th Street
Cumming, GA 30040
(770)887-3342
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
John Kieffer, Post 1
4403 Pine Tree Close
Cumming, GA 30040
889-3255
office, (770) 886-2810
Chairman Bill Jenkins, Post 2
430 Oakleaf Trail
Suwanee, GA 30174
(770)887-0935
office, (770) 886-2809
Michael Bennett, Post 3
4301 Post Road
Cumming, GA 30040
(770)889-4515
office, (770) 781-2101
William “Andy” Anderson, Post 4
9740 Misty Cove Lane
Gainesville, GA 30506
(770)889-1829
office, (770) 886-2806
Julian Bowen, Post 5
5035 Pilgrim Point Road
Cumming, GA 30041
(770)887-0784
office, (770) 886-2802
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Chairman Ben Benson
1265 Dahlonega Highway
Cumming, GA 30040
(770)889-9892
Vice-Chairman Paul Kreager
9810 Kings Road
Gainesville, GA 30506
(770)889-9971
Don Hendricks
5985 Polo Drive
Cumming, GA 30040
(770)889-2909
Sherry Sagemiller
1460 Squire Lane
Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 887-8388
Eddie Taylor
4195 Morningside Drive
Cumming, GA 30040
(770)887-4405
NATIONAL
REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell
200 Russell Senate Office
Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Atlanta: 100 Colony Square,
Suite 300,
1175 Peachtree
Street
Atlanta, GA 30361
Telephone: (202)
224-3643;
Atlanta: (404)347-
2202
Washington: (202) 224-3643
U.S. Senator Max
Cleland
75 Spring Street
Suite 1700
Atlanta, GA 30303
Telephone:
(404)331-4811
Washington:
(202)224-3521
Fax: (202) 2240072
U.S. Rep. Nathan
Deal, 9th District
2437 Raybum
House Office
Building,
Washington, D.C.
20515
Gainesville: P.O. Box 1015,
Gainesville, GA 30503
Gainesville, (770) 535-2592
Washington: (202) 225-5211
Fax:(202)225-8272
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
Senator Billy Ray, 48th District
State Capitol, Suite 327,
Legislative Office Building,
Atlanta, GA 30334
(fax) (404) 656-
6581
Telephone: (404)
6560048 (office)
or (770) 822-0900
email:
bray @legis.state, ga. us
*
Senator Casey Cagle, 49th
District
325-B Legislative Office
Building, Atlanta, GA 30334
(tax) (404) 657-1424
Telephone: (404) 6560041.
Rep. Mike Evans,
28th District
18 Capitol Square,
Legislative Office
Building, Room 604
Atlanta, GA 30334
Telephone: (404)
6560265
(tax) (404) 463-7652
email: mevans2B@mind
spring.com
Rep. Bobby Reese, 85th District
State Capitol
Suite 511
Legislative Office Building
18 Capitol Square
Atlanta, GA 30334
Telephone: (404) 656-6372
f^cf??£S\oßW y\> ° ■ •
' "It may be a lot of
W not ale out it sure is
7^''“''"" colorful to watch!”
Lawn mower racing —a cutting-edge sport
Even after all these years, there’s
just no getting around it: Ya gotta
pace yourself when you’re the fami
ly yard guy.
After all, it’s still blazing hot
outside. And mowing grass, despite
the proliferation of riding aids,
remains the thankless task of old.
Around and around the yard, circuit
after circuit, narrowing that wedge
of untamed turf until fina’ly the side
yard hammock and an icy cold one
are earned, is a routine familiar to
anyone bearing a honey-do scroll.
All in all, a day to dread.
Man-o-man, what most men
wouldn’t give to urge those trudging
beasts a bit faster, shearing nearer
their liquid refreshment goal.
Some, it seems, are a little more
determined and, yes, bored
than others. And so they’ve upped
the stakes, adding incentive and
challenge to ease the mind-numbing
monotony.
Up the stakes? To cutting the
grass? Oh, yes, indeedy.
Across America, lawn mower
racing yes, you heard me right,
racing has taken a foothold in
suburban and rural communities
among the mechanically handy and
otherwise speed deprived.
But, ah, Dorothy, you’re not in
Kansas anymore. These aren’t just
any lawn mowers, despite what
might have been their humble begin
nings.
Nope, each is a tinkerer’s heav
en, souped up and re-pieced togeth
er in backyard toolfests to reach
speeds routinely exceeding 30 miles
an hour and sometimes twice that.
Now that’s a pretty good clip for
a clipper.
It’s not without its potential per
ils, mind you. Whipping around dirt
tracks on the puttering would-be
stock cars, drivers take precautions,
sporting long-sleeved shirts, long
pants, gloves, over-the-ankle boots
and full-face helmets in their pursuit
of the turf trophy.
This, despite the fact that each
mower’s blades have been removed
and, for added measure, a disengage
switch tethered to each racer stops
the motor in the event of a mishap.
Indeed, not everyone who starts
makes it to the finish. Machines
have been known to throw a wheel,
flipping passengers up into the air
like so many shards of splintered
grass. Well, OK, they more likely
just halt altogether or topple riders
on the ground, occasionally bruised
but not particularly battered.
Still, someone could get killed,
say the sport’s naysayers and, yes,
as with virtually everything, there
are some of those. The companies
that produce 1.6 million riding lawn
mowers each year have turned their
back on the growing race trend,
adopting a counter resolution
through their trade association, the
Outdoor Power Equipment Institute.
This is, after all, a litigious soci
ety and their mamas didn’t raise no
dummies.
Still, fun is fun and boys will be
boys and machines, they was made
for racing. And so the trend, pur
ported to have begun in 1973 when
friends in an English pub commiser
ated about the rising cost of motor
sports and decided to race their own
lawn mowers as an inexpensive
hobby, is thriving.
The United States Lawn Mower
Racing Association was formed
eight years ago and, today, its Web
site, letsmow.com, boasts more than
a thousand members, male and
female, in the U.S., Australia,
Canada, England and New Zealand.
I
I
Not surprisingly, the movement
has been largely spearheaded by a
corporate sponsor with a promotion
stake in the pastime’s success.
Perhaps a bit more unexpected is
that the company is not John Deere,
Snapper, Dynamark or Murray.
Instead, the Gold Eagle
Company in Chicago, makers of
gasoline additive STA-BIL, spurred
the grassroots movement and orga
nized this year’s 20 USLMRA
regional events, including a massive
Labor Day national championship in
Illinois. At that event, the youngest
scheduled racer is the minimum 16
and the eldest, 82.
“It’s really about what we call
serious fun,” says Bruce Kaufman,
president of the association and
director of the STA-BIL national
racing series, which will return to
the Atlanta Motor Speedway on July
20.
“The atmosphere is centered
around fun but, trust me, when that
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Find out what the candidates 111
HAVE TO SAY ON ISSUES IMPORTANT TO YOU!
2000 Candidates Forum
Sponsored ry
The Forsyth County News
PrestioeVision 4
Candidates participating in each forum will be questioned
by representatives of the Forsyth County News and PrestigeVlsion 4.
Each forum will be broadcast live on Prestige Vision 4,
and will be covered in news stories appearing in the Forsyth County News.
Monday, June 19, 2000
8-8:15 p.m.: Candidates for Magistrate
8:15-8:45 p.m.: Board of Commissioners District 2
8:50-10 p.m.: Board of Commissioners District 4
Tuesday, June 20, 2000
8-8:10 p.m.: Candidates for Coroner
8:10-9 p.m.: Board of Education District 5
9-10 p.m.: Board of Commissioners District 5
Wednesday, June 21, 2000
8-8:10 p.m.: Candidates for Superior Court Judge
8:10-8:50 p.m.: Board of Education District 3
9-10 p.m.: Republican Candidates for Sheriff
Thursday, June 22, 2000
7:30-8:15 p.m.: Candidates for State House District 28
8:20-8:50 p.m.: Candidates for State House District 85
8:55-9:25 p.m.: Candidates for State Senate District 48
9:30-10 p.m.: Candidates for State Senate District 49
All forums held in the commission meeting room of the county
administration building and open to the public. All candidates in
contested races in the July 18 primary have been invited to participate.
Forsyth County News III
FORSYTH COUHTY NEWS - Tbur»4«y, Jun* IS, MOO— I
green flag goes down it’s every bit
as serious as NASCAR racing.
Some of them are racing at 60, 70
miles per hour.
“Still, you can’t help but have
fun with competitors like the
Turfinator, Sodzilla, Mr.
Mowjangles, and the Mowtivator,”
says Kaufman, chuckling. “The
underpinning continues to be based
on inexpensive, family fun motor
sports. I'm convinced that’s what
separates us from everybody else.’’
For those who prefer the novelty
of the pokey backyard hubby, urging
ol’ faithful upward toward 6 mph,
the stock class permits no alterations
beyond blade removal.
“We’ve designed the races to
cater to anybody who fits in either
end of that thrill spectrum,” says
Kaufman. “In the top class, they
blueprint and do top secret stuff we
don’t even know about and they go
60. You’ll see guys and gals in
weekend warrior motif from their
Cheryl
Rhodes
backyard and others in pro racing
team garb. But, as we say, the mow
the merrier.”
Still, after the trophy has been
awarded and bragging rights
secured, there’s still that same inspi
ration that generated the craze.
“I was bored to tears last time I
had to cut the grass at home,” con-,
fesses Alan “The Wormburner”
Elder, a Gainesville resident and
member of the Northeast Georgia
Lawnmower Racing Association.
“I kept expecting someone to
come out and announce, ‘Let the
mowing begin!”’
No doubt the wives would be
happy to oblige.
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