Colby Pullers bring back charity pull
Lony Oestreich stares at the dirt lane and bleachers that make up the track of the Colby Pullers Club. It’s been a year since the track saw any action, but that’s about to change when the club hosts the Pulling for Youth Health and Hunger charity pull this weekend.
“It’s nice to be pulling up here again,” Oestreich says as he scans the area, looking for any sign of imperfection that could halt a smooth return.
From Friday, Aug. 20, through Saturday, Aug. 21, the Colby track will host a feast for the senses, with plenty of pulls, good food and prizes.
“Friday at 6 p.m. starts the Mid-State Pullers, and then Saturday, beginning at 3 p.m., we start the Taste of the Towns,” Oestreich says. “Then, at 6 p.m. on Saturday, starts the NTPA and WTPA show.”
The club has added the River Valley Pedal Pull. The pedal pull begins at 3 p.m. on Saturday, and children who place fourth or higher in their age brackets will qualify for the national pedal pull later this fall.
Savory burgers, hot dogs, chicken and ice cold beer will be available on both sides of the track. Oestreich says with the pulls being an outdoor event masks will not be required, but current COVID-19 guidelines will be observed.
This year will also see the return of the Taste of the Towns on Saturday.
“It really just kind of became something to attract more people up here. If the wife wants to come, the husband gets to come,” Lony said jokingly. “It became something of a low cost/high reward type situation. We want to focus on what’s out there for localized and regionalized stuff in Wisconsin.”
Oestreich anticipates there will be anywhere between 30 and 50 vendors setting up tents on the south side of the pulls. Attendees should come in from the south side off of County Road N, through Colby’s industrial park. From there, they will have access to vendors and the pulls.
Both Oestreich and fellow organizer Brett Ewert feel there’s something for everyone this year, whether it be woodworking, metal-working, food or even something like an auto-body shop.
“The taste isn’t necessarily in food,” Oestreich says. “This year there’s more focus on bringing businesses back, especially after COVID hit so many in 2020. So this year we’ve expanded that to be a place where people can promote their craft, whatever that may be.”
The Colby Pullers Club has banged off a lot of rust in the last few weeks, and are hoping to recapture the momentum they had from 2019’s pulls.
“We built quite a bit of momentum in the pulling world, and got really good recognition after 2019,” Ewert says. “We got promoter and track of the year for region 3, and we had a lot of positive things going, then COVID shut everything down.”
The club is hoping to continue to have the support of local communities, and this in turn will help their charitable efforts.
“We’re looking for local, community support, and hoping to see a lot of familiar faces in the stands on both nights,” Ewert says. “There’s a lot of people that have no idea what we’re doing and the size of the event our little town has when it comes to tractor pulls in the state. Hopefully we continue to add to this and grow this event.”
