EAR FALLS -- There was no shortage of fast cars in Ear Falls over the weekend.
The Ear Falls Church hosted their annual Awana Club Grand Prix on Sunday, March 27. The regular morning church service was followed by a potluck lunch, and then the racing event.
Awana is a Bible club that meets once a week from September to May, for kids from Grade 3 and up. It is currently run by four volunteers. This year, around 19 kids were registered for Awana. The club has been running in Ear Falls for around 17 years, with Ray and Rhoda Shank taking it over around 10 years ago.
"Ray is the one who wanted to do it, we had been volunteering with Awana for 16 years," says Rhoda Shank.
Each week the kids meet at the church for an evening of songs, games, snack and Bible lessons. The kids are sorted into four groups and earn points for various things like bringing a friend or memorizing their verse. These points accumulate and can be redeemed for money to be used at the Awana ‘store’ night. Store night happens around three times a year and the kids can buy prizes with the points they’ve earned for their efforts.
The Grand Prix race is an annual tradition. Kids in the club sign up, but everyone from the community is invited to participate as well. Each person gets a regulation sized block of wood to carve and decorate however they like.
Thirty-one people registered for the race. Fifteen Awana club members and 16 non-members. Each participant fashioned a little race car from a block of wood and entered into a track race.
Nine trophies were awarded for each of the top three participants in three categories. The categories were Fastest Car, Most Efficient Design and Novelty. The categories are split into Awana club members and friends of club members.
The winners of the fastest car in the friend’s category were: Ray Shank in first, Caleb Elgby in second, and Matthew Beaudry in third. The club winners were: Michael Elgby in first, Annika Elgby in second, and Thea Hoey in third.
A panel of judges met to decide the winners of the next two categories. The winners of the Most Efficient Design category for the club members were: Sienna Aide in first, Tyler Jacobson in second, and Chloe Vincent in third. The winners for the friends of club members were: Chase Vincent in first, Ricky Vincent in second, and Tristen Gushue in third.
The winners of the Novelty Design category for the club members were: Gracie Matthews in first, Teal Smith in second, and Finleigh Desjardins in third. The winners for the friends of club members were: Jonathan Elgby in first, Rob Cronley in second, and Karen Climie-Desjardins in third.
There was also a prize for the most fuel-efficient car in both the club and the friends of club category. The winners were Helix Buckler and Nancy Silander.
