Rain Puts Damper On Labor Day Activities

The Labor Day activities that were held on Monday saw lower numbers as rain moved into the area and kept things soaked for most of the morning.
However after the skies cleared and the sun began to shine the numbers of those attending the various events quickly picked up.
According to Charles Grimsley the number of vendors was down from last year for the for the annual Buy, Swap, Sell and Trade Day event on the square, not only because of the rain but due to the shaky economy as well.
"I talked with several of the vendors who have attended other swap meets this year and they said it has been down everywhere because of the economy, but the morning rains didn't help the attendance," said Grimsley.
"Once the sun came out and people started getting out we began to see a lot more visiting the square and vendors so it turned out better than we were expecting."
Grimsley also hinted toward adding a concert downtown during the Buy, Swap, Sell and Trade Day as well as extending the hours.
The Green River Kruzers' Labor Day "Run" Dezvous Car Show felt the pinch from the rains as a little more than half of the amount of entries from last year's show.
With only 63 entries registered for the show by 11:00 a.m. and the rain still coming down the 11th annual event looked as if it would be washed out.
But as the sun came out so did the custom vehicles and by the time registration was completed a total of 81 vehicles had entered the show.
The show included a wide variety of vehicles ranging from new Mustangs, Corvettes and a Viper to 1930's Fords, 50's model Chevrolets, a 1962 Grand Tourismo and a 1936 Studebaker Dictator that was a four-time Great North American Race vehicle.
According to owner Alfred Hadley, the Studebaker still has the original motor and was run in all four races completely original except for seat belts and turn signals, which were required for the race
The last race the Studebaker made was in 1995 from Ottawa, Canada to Mexico City.
Each vehicle that entered received an award in additional to the ten best awards.
The ten "Best" awards went to:
• Best in Show went to a 1955 Chevy Pick-up owned by Bennis and Dorothy Shelton of Albany, KY.
• Best Paint went to a 1963 Plymouth Fury owned by Dut Wilson of Russell Springs.
• Best Interior went to a 1930 5-window Model A Coupe owned by Ray Kidd of Monticello, KY.
• Best Street Rod went to a 1930 Ford Model A Coupe owned by Larry Matthews of Monticello, KY.
• Best Truck went to a 1972 Chevy Cheyenne Super owned by Buddy Jordan of Fountain Run, KY.
• Best Mini-Car or Truck went to a 1996 MGB Roadster owned by David and Anita Roy of Russell Springs.
• Best Ford went to a 1968 Mustang Fastback owned by Billy Lawson of Russell Springs.
• Best General Motors went to a 1999 Pontiac TransAm owned by Brian and Misty Baker of Greenville, KY.
• Best Mopar went to a 1996 Dodge Viper owned by Gene Weddle of Columbia.
• Best Engine went to a 1957 Chevy Belair owned by James and Judy Sprinkle of Nicholasville, KY.
• Ladies' Choice went to a 1966 Chevy Nova owned by Lannie Hancock of Monticello, KY.
One of the Labor Day events that benefited from the rains was the 3rd Annual Wacky Quacky Duck Race.
The race took place on Russell Creek off of KY 206 and set a record time over the previous two years with a time of three minutes and 35-seconds.
A major improvement over last years one hour and 50-minutes and the first year's almost three-hour time.
However, the duck sales for this years race was down quite a bit from last year's 317 ducks with only 184 ducks floating down stream in attempt to win their purchaser a 32" Sansui flat screen plasma HDTV.
As the ducks head toward the finish line, several were caught up in a current that pushed them towards the edge and against the makeshift barrier setup to keep the ducks channeled toward the finish line.
However one duck never strayed from its course and headed straight down the middle and across the finish line in a standalone victory.
As the duck was turned over lucky number 41owned by Rita Murrell took home the grand prize.
Photo: Larry Matthews, of Monticello, wipes water droplets off his 1930s model A Ford after the rain finally stopped during the Green River Kruzers car show held Labor Day at the Fairgrounds. (Photo by Lawrence Harris)