Tarapin Races and Entrepreneurs

Now this is what we call a terrapin and when I was a kid almost everyone had one they played with.  Now for me it was one of my first entrepreneurial efforts.  You see every year there was a Grainola District Fair and during the fair we had a turtle races.

Here is how it worked:

• generally each race was by age group so you would be competing against your friends and their turtle and of course there were elimination rounds and then championships
• for some reason it seemed that Don Kelsey or Carl McConaghy or Carol Weaver would be one of the officials who would start the race
• someone would take chalk and draw a large circle on the blacktop in front of the Grainola School



Grainola School

• then they would take a cardboard box and cut out the bottom so that it would sit in the middle of the circle and everyone would place their turtle in the box
• when everyone was ready and nobody was still in the circle except the official, he lifted the box up to release the turtles
• if for some reason a turtle flipped upside down the official would turn the turtle back over
• then the screaming would start

At that point kids and parents would be screaming at their turtles to get moving and of course everyone hoped their turtle would reach the outer circle first.  The other officials would watch for which turtle crossed the chalk line first.  When a turtle did of course the official would yell out the winner.  I really don't remember how there got to be a pot (money) but the winner generally got 50 cents for winning, 2nd got a quarter, and third got a dime.  The races went on for hours.

Another fun thing about those races was that many folks would decorate their turtles and for some reason finger nail polish was the preferred paint.  At the end of the day all turtles would be released back to the wild.

At an early age I noticed that a lot of folks wanted to get into the races but their parents did not plan a head of time.  So, since my dad was the rural mail carrier (another story) on top of being a farmer and rancher and home builder he traveled the gravel roads every day.  For me this was great because a few days before the fair he would start collecting turtles for me.  By the time the fair started I would have 10 to 30 turtles.  I set up shop at the fair and I traded and sold turtles.  I made a lot of money every year as someone would want a turtle because it seemed fast or it was pretty. I always thought it was cool when you found a small turtle because it was typically faster and worth more money.  Another aspect of the turtle business was trading between rounds when people would be disappointed with their results.  This also proved to be a profitable aspect.  And last but not least I would always attempt to keep the fastest turtle for me.  This usually did not work out as the turtles were moody just like w_____, just kidding, maybe? 

What did I learn growing up in the Osage:

• turtles are fast compared to other turtles
• all folks are smart just relative to what topic (get it?)
• stop comparing yourself to others and just ask, "what does God expect from me?", your best
• that is all anyone should ask for and that is YOUR BEST

Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com