Trucks hit the muck at Lancer Chokecherry Fest

Lancer hosted its 51st annual Chokecherry Festival on Saturday and the crowds were far from disappointed.

The event featured a parade, a plane show-and-shine, a mud-bogging competition, and so much more. Total attendance in the morning was over 400 for the pancake breakfast, which peaked later at over 1,200 spectators attending the mud-bogging.

Cheyenne Bradford, vice president of the Lancer Agricultural Society, helped organize the festival.

“This is a 100 per cent volunteering community event,” stated Bradford. “No one's paid to help or do anything, so this is such a huge thing for us to have everyone come together as a community and surrounding communities in the area come together.”

This is the fourth year that the Chokecherry Festival has featured its most popular event, mud-bogging. The celebration of muck features a 200-foot-long dirt pit filled with water, creating a very difficult, muddy drive. 25 trucks came out to conquer the tricky terrain.

Evan Wedrick, a mud-bogging veteran plugged through the pit with little issue in his truck dubbed “Spud”.

“This is a great turnout,” expressed Wedrick. “A great group of guys and a great community. This is actually (my) dad’s first year here.”

In the background of the roaring engines, some more simple fun culminated. Kids could be heard laughing and enjoying the three bouncy castles and a unique bungee-trampoline system which helped the partaker jump much higher safely.

“After the pit was all stirred up, during intermission, we had kids under the age of 18 whose parents allowed them to run through the mud pit to the end for a chance to win $100...It's pretty fun to watch these kids face-plant in the mud and the ones with strategies who are able to sprint through it.”

A new attraction was also brought to the small community, and its popularity was sky-high. A fly-in show and shine was hosted just outside town, in a stubble field with a small airstrip. 14 aircraft were present and looking their best for the public to admire.