August 11, 2014 at 4:17 p.m.
Regatta brings the funny: Sugar Camp resort plays host to uproarious boat race
Regatta brings the funny: Sugar Camp resort plays host to uproarious boat race
What began as little more than a homemade boat race, with one obstacle course-style land event to determine the pole positions, has become a day-long spectacle that draws people from all over the country to the Northwoods for games, fun, food and drink.
The theme of this year's event was heroes and villains. Seven teams showed up to compete in events ranging from Polish skiing to a wet sweatshirt contest and a Spam and eggs marathon.
"At the heart of it, it's a homemade boat race where teams have to make boats without using any kind of marine parts or anything like that - it's got to all be homemade - and then we have four land races," event organizer Allison Pitlik said.
"However the teams do during the land races determines where they start during the boat races."
While the boat race stays the same, organizers change the land events every year.
"They vary each year," Pitlik said. "We get together and we brainstorm and try to figure out what (is) the worst thing we could possibly make people do."
Last year, the consensus for the worst event was trying to eat a banana with pantyhose on your head.
This year, the Spam and eggs marathon was deemed the worst.
"I can't believe they made us do that. Who comes up with these things?" asked Jack Snyder of the Incredibles team. "They've got a great thing going here, but we could've done it without having to put eggs in our mouth."
Snyder, like everyone else watching and participating in the Regatta, was having a great time. That's the goal of the event, plain and simple, according to emcee and organizer Gary Pitlik.
"I guarantee you'll laugh at least once," he told the crowd.
And laugh they did.
"We were up here a few years ago just having a nice family vacation when we saw the poster for this. We had planned on maybe going out in the boat for some fishing or something, but decided to check it out and, boy, I'm sure glad we did," crowd member Sean Parktin said.
"We don't make it up here every year, but whenever it works out where we're coming up north, we try to schedule it so we can see this craziness. I've never seen anything like it. It's really a hoot."
That's what the Regatta is for, to give the people of Sugar Camp and beyond a day of laughter and nonsense.
In addition to all the frivolity, the event also had a charitable aspect this year. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of raffle tickets will go to help the eighth graders at Three Lakes Middle School fund their annual trip to Washington D.C.
"We do a 50-50 raffle to help with the D.C. trip. Half the money made in the raffle goes to the winner, half to the kids, and then we match it as well to give to the kids," Allison Pitlik said. "It's just our way of helping those kids get to D.C. It's a great experience for them."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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