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By Caroline Lieber
Special to the Leader
Jo Richards and the Roadrunners are celebrating a milestone this week. May 1 marked the running of the 15th annual Worm Race.
“Jo Richards is in charge,” said Shirley Robinson, a first-time volunteer at the event.
“Did you bring your water bottle?” asked Robin McCartney. “I sure did,” said Robinson, as she presented her bottle. “The water bottles are to spritz the worms, it helps keep them moving,” added Esther Navarrete, another long-time worm race assistant.
The race was held in the Lucerne Valley Elementary school cafeteria.
“We have been at this location for seven years,” said Richards. “We started at the high school, but the ravens would sit and watch from on high” waiting to eat the worms.
One-hundred-and-ten worms were competing for one of the top 5 finishes. The enthusiastic members of 6th grade class acted as emissaries for the worms, whose names included “Old Glory,” “Tinkerbelle” and “The Viking.”
Each student received a Dixie cup with a name written on the front of it, and a worm inside. An individual or organization sponsors each worm for the price of $10.
A group of five to six students was then assigned to one of the 10 circles drawn on the floor of the cafeteria.
“One-two-three-four-five, go to circle 3!” barked Diane Holland, and the students, Dixie cup in hand, crowded around their assigned circle.
Jerry Byars is a sponsor as well as a circle monitor. “I’ve taken care of circle #1 for 15 years,” he said proudly.
At Holland’s countdown, students dropped their worms into the center of the circle. The circle supervisor gently misted the worms, and the kids cheered and clapped, rooting on their worm. Hands shot in the air as the worms crossed over the circle line.
As each race heat ended, the winner of each circle reported to the winners’ table, ably handled by Navarrete and Pam Hart. The student reported the name of their worm, and then remained at the table while the other heats are completed.
Once all the preliminary races were finished, the process started over with the group of winners. Again, each winner worm was assigned to a circle along with five other contenders, a total of about 25 worms. The first five worms out of any circle were declared the winners.
The event is sponsored by the Roadrunners to raise money for the toy drive at Christmas.
“Everything we do is for the kids,” Richards said.
The 15th Annual Worm Race winner worms, their sponsors and the students:
5th place: Van Go — sponsor, Bette Murie; student, James Brewer
4th place: Chung King Cowboy — sponsor, Linda Fong; student, Omar Orozco
3rd Place: Spark Plug — sponsor, Napa Auto; student, Joshua Lovejoy
2nd Place: Wolf — sponsor, General Feed; student, Toni Moreno
1st Place: Trashy Woman — sponsor, Jo Richards; student, Faith Badillo