Broadway Street will be the place to witness a bed-pushing extravaganza -- the fourth annual Dogwood Bed Races.
For the last four years, the Broadway Bed Races have been a staple of the Dogwood Festival. The idea behind the bed races came to a Main Street Siloam Springs board member when the old Siloam Springs Hospital moved from its location on Jefferson Street to Progress Avenue.
Ryan Kinnaman spearheaded the event that came from an imaginative idea, said Meredith Bergstrom, executive director of Main Street Siloam Springs.
"The hospital was moving and it was during the Dogwood Festival and I thought wouldn't it be funny if they pushed all the patient beds down Broadway," Kinnaman said. "Then I thought, why don't we do this -- it was the total inspiration of the whole thing."
He proposed the idea and Main Street Siloam Springs partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to bring some of the Dogwood Festival's festivities to Broadway Street.
Teams of up to five people race down Broadway Street on beds they have handcrafted for the event. The race begins on South Broadway between Alpine and Central streets with one team member wearing a bathrobe atop the bed. As teams race up the street, they must stop at a transition point and swap the robe and team member before traveling up to the turning point and heading back toward another transition point and the finish line.
But, this year things will be a little different. Instead of randomly placing teams against one another, they will be seeded by time.
Before the main races start, each team will run the course for the fastest time. The team with the best time will be the first seed, Kinnaman said.
"The time trials are before anyone gets out and races, which will be broken down into competitive brackets -- people entering should know it's going to be competitive," he said. "Now, everyone will get to run twice."
Winners will receive a cash prize -- First place, $75; Second place, $50; Third place, $25. Awards will also be given to the team with the craziest bed and the best bed design.
Generally, the Dogwood Bed Races have anywhere from five to 17 teams; however, this year one of the annually participating teams will take a year off -- the 28 Springs bed race team will not come back for the 2015 race.
Their bed was destroyed during last year's race and they have not had the time to build a new one, said Casey Letellier, head drinks enthusiast at 28 Springs.
"We need to build one that's better engineered -- we will be back next year with a better and faster bed," he said.
Gates Rubber Company will return for this year's bed race.
"Gates is excited to be participating in this event again. Our team looks forward to it each year -- it just keeps getting better and better," said Cindy Christopher, human resources manager for Gates.
The bed races will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, -- rain or shine.
Community on 04/22/2015