Andrea’s Weblog

Every year, Bel Air has a Turtle Derby on the 4th of July. This year we decided to participate–despite the fact that we didn’t catch a turtle.

Here’s how my sister sums up the morning:

We arrived at the turtle derby bright and early in hopes of getting a good spot in line. “Scooter” got in his box and nibbled on his shredded lettuce while Frank wheeled him down the street to the park. We put a sign on his box that said “Keeping Harford Green” and then listed different ways that you can protect your local environment: “bayscaping your garden, increasing plant diversity, using a rain barrel, and donating to local env. causes”. Above that was a sign that said “Donate to the Chesapeake Watershed Association”. We thought that the turtle derby was the perfect venue to raise awareness for ways people can protect their local habitat.

When we got to the park we rolled him into the registration line up for the “Box Turtles”. There were lots of other pretty formidable looking box turtles but with “Scooter’s” agility we knew we had the race in the bag. “Scooter’s” presence soon gathered quite the throng of on lookers eager to get their picture taken with him. We thought it best to play fair so “Scooter” made a point of not purposely psyching out the other turtles by looking them directly in the eyes. This didn’t stop a couple of them from shaking in their shells rather whimpishly.

At the registration table the lady didn’t really know what to do with us, I guess she hadn’t ever seen a box turtle quite like “Scooter” before. Luckily the guy in charge of the race was a good sport and helped us get registered. However, he told us that “Scooter” may throw the race and that he would have to swab his mouth to do a test for steroids. (he seemed to think this bit was really funny). In the end “Scooter” was granted his moment of glory in the ring.

The field consisted of a dirt/sand circle with a metal ring in the middle. With the “William Tell Overture” cheering him on, “Scooter” took his place at the center of the metal ring. “On your mark, get set, GO!”, and “Scooter” was off! Climbing out of the ring “Scooter” made deliberate strides towards the outer circle. Flash bulbs were going off left and right. Children were cheering him on. Women were swooning. The other turtles were peeing in their boxes… It looked like a clear sweep until at the last moment it appeared that “Scooter” may have gotten a little disoriented. After a few wobbling steps “Scooter” regained his focus and strode proudly across the finish line. The crowd went WILD!! “Scooter” took his victory walk around the ring before exiting the field to rejoin his beaming owners.

Unfortunately, the news crews didn’t arrive until later, so we are not sure whether or not they got any footage. Keep your eyes peeled though, we are still hoping that we will make the cover of the Aegis!

Here’s a link to the pictures!