Mark your calendars. Lovelock’s most iconic event is returning to the courthouse park.
Lovelock Frontier Days 2022 is Aug. 5-7.
Carry that weight
On Sunday, Aug. 7, men will take turns lugging concrete blocks down Elmhurst until their muscles give out.
Each block weighs about 105 pounds, roughly the heft of a baby elephant.
The female contestants will carry 52-pound weights, each about as heavy as a small bale of hay.
Last year, Richard Vasquez won first place in the men’s competition. His wife, Whitney Vasquez, aced the women’s competition.
Wyatt Hughes, a high school wrestler, placed first in the youth competition. The runner-up spot went to his sister, Emma. Anna Happy came in third. They all walked away with cash prizes.
Pull that tractor
Contestants say the hardest part of a tractor pull is to get the contraption going.
However, every year teams of men, women, boys and girls haul the farm equipment down Elmhurst Avenue as fast as they can.
Lovelock practices the Oklahoma version of the sport.
Instead of pulling weighted sleds, competitors pull a tractor weighing about 3,875 pounds – the weight of a smallish hippo.
Last year, Colton and Wyatt Diaz, Ryder Happy and Rylan Kjeldsen teamed up for first place, youth division.
Whitney and Richard Vasquez, rested from the weight carry, also did well. So did Tiffany Happy, Sonia Herrera and many others.
Bill Laird runs the weight-carry and tractor-pull. The tractor pull is at 11 a.m. The weight-carry starts at 2 p.m.
And more
In between the tractor-pull and weight-carry, the Lovelock Volunteer Fire Department sponsors bike races for the younger set.
Dozens of helmeted racers careen down the street at top speeds for cash prizes. The bike races start on Sunday at noon.
Across town, Bruce Medeiros runs the horseshoe games.
The event takes place at Candy Beach RV Park on Saturday and Sunday.
“The economy has hit everyone hard,” Whyte says. “Donations are at an all-time low. But if you can’t give money, please give your time.”
