The competitors will be placed on the track, and the crowd will go wild with anticipation. When the starting buzzer sounds, the racers will try their best to win, slowly.
The Johnson City Lions Club kicked off the 60th annual Turtle Derby on Thursday. The turtles can now be purchased for a donation of $50 to the Lions Club.
“We have the turtle derby every fall,” said George Winton, the turtle derby chairman. “We raised a gross of about $20,000 last year. We had about $4,000 to $5,000 in expenses, so we had a pretty good amount left over for charities.”
All of the proceeds from the turtle derby will go to local charities. The majority of the funds will go to a program called Sight Conservation Project.
It provides eye exams and eyeglasses to preschool children and low-income individuals. The Lions Club receives at least one to two applications a day to receive eyeglasses. The club gives out at least one pair of eyeglasses a day.
“The word is out that the Lions Club buys eyeglasses,” said Sight Conservation committee chairman Edward Gibbons. “We get a ton of applications every week.”
The turtle derby is the main fundraising event for the Lions Club. The club also sells pecans, has gumball machines around town and sells the nuts and bolts for license plates. All of the fundraisers last year gave the club a combined income of $31,347.
There were 3,500 pairs of used eyeglasses collected and shipped for use by mission trips going to third-world countries. There were also 288 free eyeglasses and eye exams given to needy individuals this year, and there are currently screenings going in area schools and other locations.
The turtle derby has undergone recent changes in the past few years. Instead of using live turtles, the club has been using mechanical turtles. The mechanical turtles resemble real turtles in size and speed.
The switch came for a few different reasons. The oil spill in the Gulf coast was a factor, because members were unsure if turtles could be brought in safely from that area. There were also personality concerns with live turtles.
“The races actually progressed much more smoothly with the mechanical turtles,” Winton said. “Sometimes the real turtles were ornery and wouldn’t run.”
No matter if the turtles are real or mechanical, the event has been a successful fundraiser for the club. The race has brought in at least $20,000 every year.
The actual race takes place on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. in Brooks Gym on the campus of East Tennessee State University.
More information about the turtle derby or the Lions Club can be found at the club’s website, http://johnsoncity.tnlions.org, or by calling 929-7103.