[Submitted to Bradner Barker Newsletter]
“Drivers! Start your engines!” That was the excitement that 21 drivers and accompanying navigators (and passengers) felt this Saturday, April 29, 2006, as the 1st Annual Bradner Car Rally.
OK, OK,… it was more like “Folks, since it’s raining outside, please line up at the [Bradner Hall] door and patiently wait for your instructions before departing”.
In intervals of one minute, the 21 cars were sent away from Bradner Hall, with rally instructions in-hand, leading the cars on a 2+ hour, ~100 kilometer trek around all corners of Abbotsford. The drivers and navigators had to carefully follow speed, odometer and directional instructions, and answer many skill testing questions along the way. What seemed easy on paper was quickly found to be much more difficult for many of the drivers.
Drivers and navigators had to locate 4 strategically placed Checkpoints along the route, and if found, perform further skill-testing tasks. Interestingly enough, these Checkpoints were harder to locate than several cars expected, causing some to succumb to opening their penalty-causing “Panic Instructions” just to get back on course.
Prizes and bragging rights were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and LAST place finishers. Note: A perfect score would have been ~200 points. Here are the official results:
First place (178 points):
Driver: Mark Tomashewski
Navigator: John Buchanan
Second Place (175 points):
Driver: Henry Wilsenack
Navigator: Logan Wilsenack
Third Place (172 points):
Driver: Fern McDonald
Navigator: Don Wenting
Last Place (-125 points):
Driver: Larry Meyers
Navigator: Andrea Tabian
It must be mentioned that the first place winners did not finish in the top position because of their ace driving ability or superior navigational skills, rather only because they were given 25 bonus points for rescuing one of the rally vehicles that had gotten stuck on Sumas Mountain, precariously teetering over a road-side cliff. Otherwise a lowly 8th place finish would have been their fate.
True rally champions were the second and third place finishing cars, who found all Checkpoints, obtained perfect skill-testing scores and stayed very close to the official speed & time (not too fast, not too slow).
With a score of -125 (yes, that’s negative 125), last place winners did not actually finish the rally because of a blown water-pump, thereby disabling their vehicle and sending them to a repair shop.
Pizza and refreshments were served afterwards at Bradner Hall, as the drivers and navigators re-told their stories of buying Cherry Ripe bars at Clayburn Store, throwing horseshoes at Albert Dyck Park, or swapping driver/navigator positions whilst climbing over each other INSIDE the car.
Funds raised benefited the Bradner PAC. Many thanks to Debbie and Ken Nielsen for organizing this super fun event. See you next year!
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