Answers To The Lawn Mower Races

Westside Tractor Races

The Westside Community Center (WSCC) is a facility owned and operated by
Wicomico County (Dept. of Recreation Parks and Tourism). A citizen’s
advisory board known as the Westside Advisory Council was established in
1977 to set policy, adopt the budget and develop programs. The county
contributes a full time center director and maintenance man. The board
raises funds to pay for the full operation of the center.

The Tractor Race event was established in 2005 as a fundraiser for WSCC
and netted about $200 that first year. The event has been organized by a
citizen’s committee (made up of volunteers, members of the community at
large and WS advisory Board members) known as the Tractor Race Committee.
In 2006, the committee made several changes in order to make the event
more profitable. They added the Reason to Ride Bike Show to the event and
brought in outside vendors to handle the food and beverages. The 2006 and
2007 events did make money each year.

The following are observations of the Westside Advisory Council and the
staff following this year’s tractor races:
• Terry Scott, the event committee chairman, resigned and was the person
who did most of the work for the lawn tractor race portion of the event.
• The tractor races continued to grow in number but so did many of the
expenses. A major increase was from the racing group (ARMA), who doubled
their fee from $1,500 to $3,000.
• The committee struggled to get enough volunteers to plan and run the
event. The burden fell largely on same few people straining county
employees and volunteers alike.
• The growth of the event also increased the Department of Recreation &
Parks workload where over 500 man hours were spent to stage the event
annually due to the unique needs of the lawn tractor portion of the event.
• The lawn tractor races had become more expensive and labor intensive to
conduct while the motorcycle show portion was far more profitable and much
easier to administer. Despite increased advertising and other efforts,
attendance did not increase above the 2006 event and the 2007 event netted
in $6,800 ($1,000 less that the year before).
Less than 10% of the net revenue was generated by the tractor races
illustrating a minimal return on the investment. The Bike Show side of the
event brought in nearly $6,000 in sponsors, registration fees, and raffle
items without any additional expenses.
• The open area used for the event over the past 3 years will be developed
into a recreational park in the early spring and the track space will not
be available.

On December 10, 2007, at the WS Advisory Board’s regular meeting, the
group decided to not continue the tractor race aspect of the event. It
will continue with the less labor intensive and more profitable aspects of
the event which were food, entertainment and the motorcycle show.

I'd like to thank Rick Pollitt & Jim Finneran for getting this information for me/us.