Growing bigger with every year

The fourth annual Potter Car Bowl, scheduled for June 30, will feature new events and added activities for crowd favorites.

New this year is the Pine Wood Derby. According to organizer Drew Enevoldsen, Cub Scout Troop 105 was recently organized and will be participating in their first derby at home.

This derby will not be just for kids, but also past scouts and adults interested in competing. Youth aged 5 – 14 are asked to bring their own weights and paint, but cars can be built on site, from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m., for those who don’t have one.

Enevoldsen added that some past scouts have challenged others and there may be a few “grudge” matches at the event.

“We are going to charge the older guys $5 a race to use the track and that money will go to Troop 105,” Enevoldsen said.

This year will also feature a raffle with a TV, an ATV and a 2002 Ford Thunderbird.

Funds raised from the TV will go to the Sidney High School Auto Club, a newly formed after-school club, for their project car.

Raffle funds from the ATV will go to the American Legion building and the money raised by the Thunderbird will benefit the Goshen County Task Force on Family Violence and Sexual Assault.

“Car Bowl always gives away all its profits to a worthy cause every year,” Enevoldsen said. “This year we are granting to the American Legion Community Building Restoration Project.”

In addition to these new activities, there will be three days of Melodrama and comical murder mystery as the thespians in the community do their first murder mystery musical - “The Crimson House Murder”.

You’ll find laughs galore in this murder mystery farce that spoofs the private eye shows of the past. It’s the story of Crimson House, a seedy hotel where the guests pay outrageous rent for shoddy service. Arriving on the scene is that famous, inept, yet very funny Hoboken detective, Hercules Porridge, who goes by Junior. A corpse has been discovered in the sitting room, and a beautiful secretary is done in by deadly orchid juice. Who could have done such dastardly deeds? The guest list includes a mystery writer, Anguish Crispie, an eccentric young man who dresses like a jungle explorer, and a strange actress who always dresses in black. Or maybe it’s Colonel Chutney, a crazy neighbor, who thinks he’s in India in 1880. There’s also Jeeves, the butler, who has a wandering mind. Thrills and chills collide with sidesplitting laughter as the case is surprisingly solved by Detective Porridge, according to the shows billing on pioneerdrama.com.

Show times, all in Potter’s American Legion building, begin Thursday, June 28, and Friday, June 29, at 7 p.m. with supper beginning at 6. The crews final show will be Saturday with lunch served at noon and the show to begin at 4:30 p.m.

Live bands from Sterling, Colo., will be on hand to entertain the crowds; the craft fair opens at 9 a.m. and the silent auction begins at the same time in the Potter Library.

The Potter-Dix cheer team and WNCC will host duckpin bowling at the only duckpin bowling alley west of the Mississippi river with proceeds going to help the cheer team in their endeavors this year.

Humps and Horns will provide mini bulls and Rocky Mt. Mini Broncs will bring horses for the 6:30 p.m. rodeo, which will be held in the arena just south of Highway 30 at the Interstate 80 link.

According to Enevoldsen, the bronc riding event is sanctioned and is a qualifying ride for nationals in Las Vegas, Nev.

Admission to the rodeo has been paid for by the local Lions Club so families can enjoy the event free of charge, but donations are welcome and all funds raised will be used to upgrade the arena for future events.

Riders can register throughout the month by calling J.R. Yearous at 308-249-7834.

“Bring your camp chairs and enjoy this top-notch show free, thanks to the Good Times Rodeo Club, a part of the Potter Lion’s Club,” Enevoldsen said.

Finally, the Potter Car Bowl would not be a car bowl without the annual car and tractor show. Registration begins at 9 a.m. First and second place winners will receive trophies at the exclusive 3 p.m. awards ceremony, according to Enevoldsen.

Trophies were cut by the Kimball High School Shop Class on the FFA plasma cutter. The Car Bowl committee donated $1,000 towards the purchase of the plasma cutter.

“The donation will help keep the machine in prime condition with supplies for the students to learn with,” Enevoldsen said. “We design our trophies around bowling and cars. First place receives a strike and second place gets a spare.”

Following a day of family, friends and fun, revelers are invited to kick back and enjoy some fireworks, at dusk, near the downtown railroad park.

For more information or to register for any event in advance call Enevoldsen at 308-207-5908.