This morning, I had the good fortune of attending the Lewisburg Derby Days. Of all my years in Preble County, Ohio…. I had never made my way to this particular community celebration.

Oh, and what a big time it was.  On wheels.
It boar all the makings of a small community festival or fair….  with a midway… and rides…. and food booths and such.  I can personally attest to the validity of the Jumbo Pork Tenderloin  Sandwich.

There was a grand parade…. with a band… and kids on floats… emergency vehicles, old cars…. and even a train full of four-year-old Shriners in the making.  Of course…. there was a Derby King and Queen.

But the biggest event of the day was the Soap Box Derby.   Oh to be a kid again.  I wish I’d of had a Soap  Box Derby when I was young.

It is all business, I’ll tell you.  Well.  Business in a fun sense.  These kids prepare long and hard for this race.  They make their own cars… and fine tune their aerodynamic strategies.  Like crazy. And finally it all comes down to this.   Race Day.

All were winners in my book.

But if you REALLY want a bad-*ss car…. that is SURE to be down the hill first…. you have to look serious about the whole deal.  Kick-Butt-Serious.   A Skull and Crossbones on your ride really helps… I think.
But each Racer had their MoJo on.  Each in their own special way.  IT ROCKED.

So.  Three cheers go out to the Lewisburg Community, and all that the day brought forth.

I had the spirit in me… I’ll tell you.  When I got home…. I put on my favorite Speed Racer T-Shirt…. and took the old Radio Flyer down our driveway a half a dozen times.    I wasn’t nearly as cool as those kids were this morning.  But I felt the wind on my face, and heard the rumble of the wheels against the road.  I had the need for speed… and I was flying.

“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” – Cecil Beaton