GOLD HILL-- Gentlemen, start your engines! Nah, that doesn't sound right.Um-- on your mark? That won't work.
Get ready, get set, go?
Seriously, how do you start a privy race?
"Three, two, one," and a pop from the
starter pistol began the race of outhouses at Historic Gold Hill's 10th annual Founders
Day Saturday morning.
The privies were mounted on wheels and teams of
men pulled them down the road to the finish line, where a scorekeeper announced the
results.
The Gold Hill Men's Club's Brown Streak, finished
at a minute and 15 seconds. The other three privies came in under a minute:Trexler Farms'
Corn Cob Express, 54.89; Hills' Barnyard Can, 52.95; and Calvin Barringer's County Seat,
the winner, 44.58.
No two privies were alike and each had its own
special features. Corncob Express had a real steering wheel. County Seat had corn cobs and
an old Sears catalog inside. Brown Streak had a padded chair instead of a one-hole seat.
Barnyard Can kind of looked like its name.
Guy Hammill helped build the winning County Seat,
but he didn't think anything special about its construction got it into first place.
"It's the choice of pulling teams," he said. "Jamie Pope was one of the
pullers. He runs eight miles a day."
There may be something to that. The slow Gold Hill
Men's Club's Brown Streak had a surprise puller --- Rowan County Sheriff G.A. Wilhelm, in
full uniform. He hadn't come to pull; he expected to be sheriffing, but when he found out
that not all the Brown Streak's pullers had showed up, he volunteered. When the race was
over, he made no bones about it-- he was pooped. But he wasn't sorry he volunteered.
"I've been trying to get into the Gold Hill Men's Club," he said. "Now
maybe they'll at least make me an honorary member."
Wilhelm said he thought the homemade privies were
impressive. Pointing to County Seat, he said, "I think you could use it. Just back it
up over the hole."
Even though it lasted less than two minutes, the
race was a high point of the day.
Festivities began with a parade at 10 a.m.,
followed by the privy race. Then at noon, East Rowan High School Jr. ROTC presented colors
at a dedication of the flagpole to the memory of William Russell, who died in 1994. He is
known in the community for having worked continually for the park.
The crowd browsed through arts and crafts booths
and followed the smell of fresh food from Brunswick Stew (secret family recipe) to
chicken dumplings and barbequed tenderloin that filled the park.
After the flag dedication, people began putting
out their blankets and lawn chairs in the grass around the outdoor arena stage, decorated
with pumpkins, yellow mums and bales of straw, to watch the Jones Brothers and Log Cabin
Boys, the Stepping Time Cloggers, Cardinal Squares and lots more music.
All day, during the music and the story telling
and eating, conversation kept turning back to those racing privies. Calvin Barringer
pointed to the back of County Seat, where its building cost was listed as $23. He
got the numbers right, but when he was finishing up the painting at 11:30 Friday night, he
was so tired he forgot to put the L in Calvin. So if you see a privy on wheels attributed
to CAVIN Barringer, you'll know it's really Calvin.
And it doesn't much matter who you asked, the
various quirks of construction weren't the issue in the race. "It wasn't the
privies," someone said. "It was the pullers." |
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