Zooming zucchinis come to Souris this weekend

A vegetable with wheels sticking out, speed increasing and money on the line — it’s a zucchini race, and it’s coming to Souris this month.

Scarecrow Days chair Loretta Turner has worked to introduce an event called the “Zucchini 500” to Souris’ annual fall event this weekend. It’ll be the first-ever zucchini race at Scarecrow Days, and she tells the Sun there will be several categories of competition.

Divided by size, there will be races for zucchinis over 12 inches or under 12 inches, judged on speed. But there’s also a category for vegetables to win if they can’t hit top speeds – called the “best in show” category.

“That’s going to be the creative, or the pretty ones,” said Turner. “I think that’s where we’ll see some of the big ones, or we’ll see (things like) carrot wheels.”

Turner, who is in charge of promoting Souris’ Scarecrow Days — a fall event for the small community of around 2,000 — added the races to the weekend schedule this year, and is hoping for a big turnout. She said anyone can show up and race their vegetables. There’s no rule about entrants needing to be from Souris — everyone’s able to compete.

There are five categories set up for competition this upcoming Sunday. The Souris community has arranged to close Crescent Avenue, allowing for the area to host five zucchini races, and a barbecue and a car show.

Race prizes will include a $50 gift certificate for auto detailing and several prizes of $50 of “Souris bucks,” which are spendable at businesses that are members of the Souris’ chamber of commerce.

In its first year, the important point is to get people racing — the event is only as good as its participation, Turner said.

“We need to get people getting these zucchini cars built and show up,” she said. “That’s my job to try and create buzz around town and try to get the word out there.”

The idea for vegetable races this year spawned when a community member visited family on Salt Spring Island, B.C. Community member Sherri Black was intrigued when she witnessed hundreds of people watching zucchini races at the annual fall event on the West Coast. She brought the idea back to Souris.

The races on Salt Spring Island were an intriguing sight, she said.

“Some of them involve LEGO. Some people paint the whole thing – so there’s lots of creativity. And it’s all ages. There were people registering, young kids with their parents, and then there was the older group who liked to participate.”

Returning home to Souris, Black submitted the idea to the chamber of commerce. She learned her idea about racing vegetables had taken root and hit the ground with wheels spinning.

Organizers included it as part of the annual fall season weekend event and folks at Boulanger Construction agreed to host the event and build a ramp.

When asked why she chose zucchini’s for the racing event, Turner pointed out that zucchinis are abundant at this time of year, making them affordable and easy to obtain. She said the abundance of zucchini’s has even become a joke around town.

“The joke is, ‘Don’t leave your car unlocked right now. Because you’re going to find a box of zucchinis in it,” said Turner. “The zucchinis come from people’s gardens. People will either have their own or find some. And we’ve put it out on our social media that if you have some you’re looking to get rid of, let’s connect you (with someone who wants one).”

Anyone interested can visit the Souris and Glenboro Chamber of Commerce on their website or on Facebook.

The registration table opens at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Scarecrow Days on Crescent Avenue and closes at 1:30 p.m. Races are scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m. Participants are expected to bring their zucchini racer pre-built and ready to roll on Sunday.

Turner hopes the event will be back next year, too, and continue to grow over time. At the moment, she said, it’s hard to say how many people are entering the race this year but she anyone interested to do it.

This story was originally published in the Brandon Sun. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.