Perfect day to stay in bed and win...
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Team KPC with bed heads Jeremiah Jensen, Cara Steadman, and Randy Berg, take the gold at the 5th annual Soldotna Lions Club Vera Howarth memorial Bed Rac.
It may have been a better day to stay in bed then to race them, but the snow, sleet, rain and hail did not deter the largest crowd ever from showing up for the Soldotna Lions Club 5th Annual Vera Howarth Memorial Bed Race on Park Street in Soldotna. The Kenai Peninsula College racing team of Jeremiah Jensen, Cara Steadman, and Randy Berg easily defeated all challengers including a Hemi powered entry by Soldotna Lion Ed Sleater.
Team KPC was assisted by the engineering skills of Dave Stang and T.C. Dyer, "We made it so that the bed had nothing to do with how fast it went and that it was all in the runners. Obviously! They did a great job and will be back to defend our title next year," said Dyer. Cara Steadman was in the wet/drivers seat of the winning bed as the team from KPC claimed the coveted championship for the third consecutive year. For the second year in a row Team KPC got off to a shaky start, last year they had to swerve to avoid a photographer, and this year a miss-cue from the official starter left them fourth off the starting line, "We got a late start, so we just took off and made up the difference never looking back," said Jensen. As the trio crossed the finish line they were greeted by a host of KPC supporters with cheers as loud as any homecoming football game.
Lion Ed Sleater tunes up the Hemi on his bed prior to last week's Vera Howarth Memorial Bed Race.
Soldotna Lions Club president Tim Musgrove created the event and was the original winner of the Vera Howarth Memorial Bed Race. Musgrove entered this year's race with few modifications to his original four poster, but was unable to go the distance, "It was an exciting day today and our best turn out ever, but the technology and youth of the KPC team is hard to overcome. Their bed this year only had a few remnants from last year's entry, so they completely overhauled it and it was unbeatable," said Musgrove. The event was created as a fund raiser for the Lions Club scholarships and in loving memory of one of their favorite members Vera Howarth, says Musgrove. Howarth was a charter member of the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce as well as the Soldotna Lions Club, and owned and operated Vera's Variety until she passed away six years ago. She was a fun loving individual and great supporter of youth in the community. Each year the Soldotna Lions fund six $500 scholarships with two awarded to students from Skyview, Soldotna, and KPC.