Demolition Derby to feature Calcutta auction
PLAINS – The Demolition Derby will feature some new changes this year, which hope to increase viewer enjoyment.
According to Ken Matthiesen, the Plains Lions Club secretary, the club is currently receiving entries for the event and so far this year’s show has the potential of being the best demolition derby yet.
“Down time between heats will be shortened dramatically, prize purses have been increased and the rules have been revised and simplified to attract new and younger competitors,” Matthiesen stated in an email.
The club is also looking at revising the rules to make the entry process more affordable and car preparation simpler.
This year the Lions Club will introduce a new feature: a Calcutta Auction. Members of the audience will be able to take out their pocketbooks and bid on their favorite cars.
The Calcutta will take place before the championship heat and will be held in conjunction with a contest with multiple entrants, Matthiesen said.
“It is popular as audience members to bid among themselves to ‘buy’ each of the contestants, with each contestant being assigned to the highest bidder,” Matthiesen said. “The Lions will then pay out to the owner of the car a predetermined proportion of the pool depending on how it performs in the tournament.”
Typically the pot is split 50/50 with the event sponsor, the Plains Lions Club, while the highest bidder and owner of the winning car split the remainder of the money
“This should add a fun element to the championship heat,” Matthiesen said.
The Powder Puff heat is once again scheduled as the last event of the evening. Matthiesen said the event is fun to watch, as some of the ladies are extremely competitive and go into a destructive mode with little provocation.
The Demolition Derby is the Plains Lions Club biggest fundraiser of the year. The club uses the proceeds from the event to work on their most expensive project, the children’s wading pool at E.L. Johnson Memorial Pool Park.
The club provides a qualified lifeguard, maintenance work, chemicals and also tasks a Lions volunteer with cleaning the pool and filters on a daily basis as well as weeding and doing lawn maintenance as needed.
The proceeds may also help with a variety of other projects the Plains Lions Club is tasked with. The club helps assist individuals who require vision related help, subsidizing both eyewear and eye exams. The club sponsors the annual Halloween costume contest and wiener roast at Fred Young Park, the Cub Scouts Pine Wood Derby, the annual Easter egg hunt and also serves as Santa Claus at the fairgrounds collecting both donations and canned goods for the Plains Food Bank.
The club also installs the holiday season lights along Railroad Avenue with the help of Northwestern Energy employee Lloyd Rice who volunteers his time and truck to both install and remove the lights.
The proceeds from the Demolition Derby help make many of those activities possible and the hope is everyone in the community will come support the event.
“We are receiving entries every day and this year’s show would be one of the best ever,” Matthiesen said.