Lions and Tigers and Turtles, Oh My!

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) would likely show up at the door if the Lions Club still held its annual Turtle Derby. But in 1960, the derby was big fun for a small town.

Gene Gerardi, who served as Turtle Derby chairman for two years in the late 1960's, remembered having to order 100-200 turtles from a pet distributor in Chicago.

"They were the little jobs when you used to be able to buy them for a dime in the store," Gerardi said, making a circle about the size of a silver dollar with his fingers.

"We'd have to go downtown to get them, and they'd come in these big boxes with all these air holes in them so they could breathe," he added.

The event was held in the school gym (now the Founders Center gym) on a Saturday morning in late May, according to Lions Club historical records. Any child who participated was assigned a turtle (numbers had been painted on their backs).

Now here's where time and lack of official documentation blur the lines of memory. Gerardi described getting sponsors for each turtle, meaning that local businesses made a donation in exchange for "sponsoring" a racing turtle.

However, Frankfort resident Chip Krusemark, grandson of Frankfort Lions Club founder Al Krusemark, remembers the derby from a child's perspective and thought the grownups bet on the turtles.

Either way, the proceeds were used by the Lions to support club philanthropy projects in the community.

Krusemark also remembered the entire gym floor being covered with a tarp and a huge wheelhouse being lowered to the center circle of the gym floor with a pulley system. The wheel contained chutes into which the racers were loaded. When the wheel touched down, the turtles were released. The first turtle who made it across the outer circle line won the race.

"It took forever for those little turtles to make it across," Krusemark said, chuckling. "But as a kid it was pretty darn exciting!"

After the races (there were multiple heats), each child got to take his or her turtle home, said Gerardi. However, there were usually turtles left over.

"I asked the pet distributor what we should do with them and he asked if we had a creek nearby. I said we did. He said to put them in there. Who knows where those little dudes and dudettes are now," Gerardi said, laughing.

"Over the years we probably put hundreds of turtles into that (Hickory) creek. I'm sure a lot of parents did, too!" he added with a wink.

And they might still be swimming and basking in the sun on the banks of Hickory Creek. Aquatic turtles, depending on their living conditions, have decades-long lifespans.

While the popularity of the turtle races died out over time, Gerardi fondly remembered the event.

"Everybody looked forward to it. It wasn't a real big town. This was a big deal back then," he shared.

"It was quite the deal," Krusemark agreed. "Thinking about this brought back some great memories of a simpler time."