By Gary Wamsley
Berthoud Recorder

This is really a great time of year with a lot of activity involving the kids. The high school band strutted their stuff at the big northern Colorado band competition last week. While I could not stay for the whole six hours of performances, I did manage to see a couple of area bands perform. I had not taken much interest in marching bands prior to this, but what I saw at the Ray Patterson field was very entertaining. The Berthoud High School Band is in the building stage and did not field as many musicians as some of the other schools. Admittedly, a larger band looks more impressive from the stands, but our kids acquitted themselves admirably, taking sixth place. Our band moms and dads can be proud.

Saturday was a big day for the local Cub Scouts. The annual race down the only hill in town was a big success by any standard. The kids had a great time making their runs and only a few ran into the hay bales lining the street. I don’t know if this experience will inspire any of them to take up a career in auto racing or design, but there were a lot of happy faces.

When I was a cub scout in the 1940s, the Soap Box Derby was a big event across the country. North Platte, Neb., was even flatter than Berthoud. The only hill in town was the Highway 30 viaduct over the Union Pacific railroad tracks. Once a year the highway was closed and the cars raced down the east side of the “hill.” The cars were very sleek and resembled the race cars of the day more than they did the post-war family sedans.

At one time, the derby was one of the top five sporting events in terms of attendance. According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, Colorado was banned from the event in 1973 after a 14 year-old Boulder boy was stripped of his national title for cheating. Apparently that ban has been rescinded, but only five Colorado cities are presently participating in the event, the nearest being Littleton. The derby has lost much of its appeal, but it was gratifying to see the scouts have fun on Saturday. Thanks to all the leaders and parents who make it possible.

The great musical production of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” is coming to the Berthoud High School stage. We have been peeking in on some of the rehearsals and this promises to be another great show. With the show running on two weekends, there will be plenty of opportunity to attend. Don’t miss it.

BAHA is planning their annual Wine Tasting for early November. This year the event will be held at the Brookside Event Center. This is a great opportunity to sample the wines that are available at Berthoud Wine and Spirits, the event’s major sponsor.

With so much going on in Berthoud, you won’t need to leave town. I’ll see you there.