Yellow Pages
Team Trebasaurus is the people’s choice at Pumpkin Pitch
Team Trebasaurus and Captain Aaron Young of Burlington captured the imagination of the crowd and enough votes to walk away with the People’s Choice Award during the sixth annual Burlington Pumpkin Pitch trebuchet competition Saturday, Sept. 27, at Skagit River Park in Burlington.
Burlington Chamber of Commerce spokesperson Lisa Swanberg estimated about 6,000 people showed up to enjoy the event under warm, sunny skies, with none of the vision-impairing fog of prior years.
Swanberg said Trebasaurus team members dressed in leopard print “caveman” garb and bone necklaces, to enhance their work on their medieval machine.
Team Trebasaurus also shared the Sportsmanship Award with Team J-Buchet and Captain Fred Smethers of Sedro-Woolley. Event organizers select the team or teams that show good sportsmanship to other teams and coordinators, turn in paperwork on time, and support the event in a positive manner.
The Captain’s Award, which is voted on by the teams, went to Team Onagenator2 and Captain Craig Macomber of Seattle.
This year’s medieval competition was more about hitting targets (reinforced straw bales) than how far each team’s trebuchet could hurl its pumpkin “ammunition.”
Machine Engineering Awards Division A (under 8-pound pumpkin) went to Onagenator2 Captain Craig Macomber of Seattle, with an accuracy percentage of 96.5 at 118.1 feet. He received $100 and a plaque.
Machine Engineering Award Division B (8 to 10-pound pumpkin) was awarded to Pendragon Captain Robert Maitland of Langley, British Columbia, with an accuracy percentage of 95.4 at a distance of 348.2 feet. He received $100 and a plaque.
Other participating teams and their distances included Trebasaurus, 94.7 accuracy at 306.9 feet; Gourdinator, 93.97 accuracy at 967.9 feet; Mixed Nuts and Mixed Nuts Jr. with 89.3 and 89.24 accuracy, respectively, at 218.5 feet; and J-Buchet, 87.76 accuracy at 1,104.8 feet.
Target distances were established during pre-competition practice throws.
Volunteers clean up beach trash
Skagit County Beach Watchers and three other volunteer groups recently removed a total of 500 pounds of trash from beaches in Skagit, King and Whatcom counties as part of the International Coastal Cleanup.
Four Skagit County Beach Watchers collected trash at Snee-Oosh Beach on the Swinomish Reservation in September during one of four events to pickup trash from beaches. It was one of four events in which about 50 volunteers participated, removing garbage by the truckload from areas, such as Birch Bay in Whatcom County.
Support for the cleanup was provided from the Swinomish Tribe and other governmental agencies. The cleanup takes place in communities around the world each September in an effort to prevent marine pollution.
