A grand and glorious Saturday in Bonners Ferry!

June6, 2010
Downtown Bonners Ferry was absolutely bustling Saturday, as the Bonners Ferry Rod Benders Car Club invited their friends from around the region to come to town for what was the most successful Borders 3 Jamboree to date ... Where once cars and other motorized vehicles barely filled Main Street, this year, every side street and parking lot in Bonners Ferry was packed with classic rides, and people turned out in droves to see them, and that's not all that happened Saturday. There was the Bonners Ferry High School Class of 2011 graduation, a Middle School cheerleaders car wash, a "Pass in the Grass" lawn mower race at 5:30 at the fairgrounds. The Farmer's Market was in full swing, too, and many who walked up the many cars, trucks, vans, buggies and motorcycles were pushing, towing or carrying loads of the many products they found there ... though most of the younger generation carried big cones of ice cream!
  Debbie Weland couldn't help but ogle as she walked past the many beautiful cars lining the streets of Bonners Ferry Saturday. Even better than the old cars were the many old friends she met!
This year, it wasn't just classy cars, but classy bikes as well, and many looked with wistful eyes and thoughts of the open road. 
As at most local car shows, Judy Swing, long a familiar face at Bonners Ferry City Hall, showed with pride the many classics she and her husband, Larry, keep, restore and maintain.  
Nobody had to bring a dirty rig to the show, either, as the Bonners Ferry Middle School cheerleaders spent a whole day washing every rig that stopped. They even fed their guests with a bake sale!
The day didn't end there, though, as at 5:30 p.m.  the fairgrounds roared to life with the sound of lawnmowers in the "Pass in the Grass" lawn mower race, even though there was no lawn to mow. 
While you wouldn't think it right off the top of your head, lawn mower racing is becoming a big sport, and this years' event brought in racers not only from home, but from British Columbia, Canada, Montana, Washington and Idaho parts down south, from places like Sandpoint, Spirit Lake and Lewiston. Here, Chris Spangler, Bonners Ferry, takes the checkered flag from Brion Poston in one of the preliminary heats. He finished second in the Modified A Class, behind Rod Lepoidiven, also of Bonners Ferry.
You might not equate riding lawn mowers with speed and handling, but those who strap on the helmets and gear and kick these ponies to the max can hit speeds of up to 50 miles per hour, on an unforgiving track. Aaron Shaver, Spokane, upended his ride on the wettest and hardest turn, and Eugene Pate, town unnamed, were both injured. Fortunately, both were treated and released at Boundary Community Hospital.
 
Winners of the 'Pass in the Grass' Bonners Ferry Lawnmower Races
 
Powder Puff: 1st: Anne Tompkins, Bonners Ferry; 2nd, Trista King, Lewiston, Idaho, 3rd, Melissa Taylor, Emmitsburg, Idaho.

Super Stock B: 1st: Matt Morta, Spokane; 2nd, Jeff Hash, Princeton, Idaho; 3rd, Brian LePoideven, Bonners Ferry.

Super Stock A: 1st: Aaron Shaver Sr., Spokane, 2nd, Buck Taggart, Viola, Idaho, 3rd, Brad  Gilmore, Hauser, Idaho.

Modified B: 1st, Dallas Hash, Lewiston; 2nd Richard Thompson, Morton, Washington; 3rd, Brandon Goucher, Julietta, Idaho.

Modified A: 1st: Rodney LePoidevin, Bonners Ferry; Chris Spangler, Bonners Ferry; Rob Tompkins, Bonners Ferry.

Open B: 1st: Richard Oliver, Sandpoint; 2nd, Chris Spangler, Bonners Ferry.

Open A: 1st: Rob Tompkins, Bonners Ferry; 2nd, Gerald Anderson, Abbotsford, British Columiba.