Manure Spreader Sit In

Manure spreader sit in AG WORLD Ag World 11-6-19 If you've been thinking your local county fair needs a popular new amusement attraction, you may want to consider staging a "manure spreader sit-in" contest, Here's the idea: You park a manure spreader in front of the grandstand, or along main street, then challenge contestants to sit in it for 12 hours a day for 5 or 10 days ùor however long the fair runs. The prize: A jackpot of $1,000, or whatever, to the winning "survivor". You, or whomever sponsors the sit-in, will have to make a sticky decision on how to conduct the contest: Do you run it with or without manure in the spreader? Ask Lloyd Petipren, winner of the first-ever manure spreader sit- in contest staged this past summer at the Ionia Free Fair, in Ionia, Mich., and he'll tell you emphatically to make it a true test of endurance. Put manure in the manure spreader! When fair officials in Ionia issued the "manure spreader sit-in" challenge last summer, Petipren signed up and came fully prepared to battle the strong odors, outlast his competition and win the $1,000 prize being offered. His "battle gear" included big rubber boots, skunk scent (to harass other competitors), a pair of long pants, and a long sleeve shirt. Stuff you need if you're planning to sit in a sloppy, stinky manure spreader for 10 hot days. Although he won the contest, Petipren has been raising a big stink ever since about the "cream puff' way it was run. When he arrived on the scene, here was this sparkling-clean "manureless" spreader, parked in the shade of a tent with a cool breeze blowing by. Petipren couldn't believe it. A manure spreader sit-in ù without manure! But Petipren couldn't back out. He'd al-ready boasted to friends that he'd win, and had called in to a radio talk show to publically predict a victory. "If I'd reniged, everyone would have chided me for backing out of something so easy," he says. So, the stage was set. According to con-test rules, if more than one contestant remained at the end of the contest (4 p.m. on the last day of the 10-day fair), a drawing would be held to determine the winner. If the contest was decided prior to 5 full con-test days, the award would be $500; after 5 days, $1,000. On the 6th day of the 10-day fair, when the pot increased to $1,000, Petipren made the other two contestants an offer they couldn't refuse. He'd pay them $255 each on the condition they drop out, leaving him the winner. After sitting, for 75 hrs., he collected $490 ù a return of $6.53 cents per hour. "If I'd known the spreader would be empty, I never would have entered. I felt like a jerk sitting there in a sparkling clean spreader," laments Petipren. Fair officials decided the spreader would remain "manureless" so it could be parked in front of the grandstand without raising a stink. Contest rules specified that each contestant had to stay in the spreader at all times, except for 30 min. breaks every 3 hrs. Contestants were to report in each day at noon and stay until midnight. Not hanging or sitting over the side of the spreader was permitted, nor was lying down. Each contestant had a chair to sit on and could stand up and move about if, in the judge's opinion, doing so did not interfere with other contest-ant's. A contestant could have one support person near the spreader, but that person couldn't lean on, put his hands on, or otherwise touch the spreader. No radios or audio equipment were permitted. Contest-ants were required to furnish their own refreshments and supplies. For anyone interested in sponsoring a similar sit-in, fair official Lionel Haskins offers these tips: "Make sure people under-stand whether or not the spreader will have manure in it.And make it clear that the contest is strictly for fun and amusement." For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lionel Haskins, Ionia Free Fair, P.O. Box 96, Ionia, Mich. 48846 (ph 616 527-1310).

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