Farm machines thrash it out at Lind Combine Derby
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 2 months AGO
Caleb Hannas of Hooper waves in triumph as his combine Orange Crush rolls out of the arena after the first heat. Two other combines weren’t able to leave under their own power.
Joel Martin/Basin Business Journal
Ryan Kulm lifts two of The Bandit’s wheels off the ground as he rams Lock Jaw, driven by Jeff Solbrack.
From left: Dan Sims, Dustin Wilson and Cody Kulm sit on the front of The Bandit and talk with Travis Punchello before the Lind Combine Derby June 10.
Between combine battles, there were more conventional – but no less impactful – races for pickups, cars and grain trucks.
The spray-painted threat on the back of Jaws, driven by Chris Geier, appears to have been in vain as the combine’s battered remains sit outside the Lind Lions Club Arena.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | July 5, 2023 1:00 AM
LIND — Lind held its annual Combine Derby June 10.The event has been a Lind tradition since 1988, and this year’s derby brought a crowd of about 4,500 people to a town of 531.
Fifteen of the harvesting machines, sporting names like “Cornfed Cadillac” and “The Extinguisher,” lumbered onto the field at the arena to duke it out.
“I’ve been at this for a long time,” said Ryan Kulm, of Finley. Kulm’s combine, labeled The Bandit, was painted a foreboding black with a gold bird of prey on the front next to the driver’s seat. “Dad started it and it kind of moved on to my brother and I 15 years ago. We bought this combine over a month ago, because the other one got destroyed last year. So we … tore this one down, and last minute, we’re literally duct-taping it and putting it together.”
Joe Zuger of Walla Walla was driving in the derby for the first time, he said.
“This combine is kind of a collection of friends that pool their resources together and then kind of let buddies drive in alternating years,” Zuger said. “This year was my year. I’ve been coming to this thing for almost 20 years and always wanted to do it.”
The action consisted of three 15-minute heats in which four or five combines all tried to disable each other, followed by a consolation round and a final round. In between there were races of a more conventional kind, for pickups and cars.
The Lind Lions Club has a combine of its own which it enters in the final round. The driver of the combine is chosen through a raffle, the winner getting the option of driving the machine or $500 cash. This year’s winner opted for the cash, said Lions Club member Mike Doyle, so the chance to drive was auctioned off. The winning bidder was Paul Christianson, who paid $1,000 for the honor.
“It’s a once-a-year get-together for friends and family to hang out, crush combines, barbecue, drink some beer and have some fun,” Kulm said.
Joel Martin can be reached via email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.