Pride of Hoyt Days set for this weekend

This year’s Pride of Hoyt Days activities, set for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 18-20 in Hoyt City Park, will feature several of the annual event’s familiar activities, such as a parade, games and craft and food vendors, it has been reported.

But this year’s event will also feature the “Hoyt Summer Shootout,” the first “big truck and tractor pull” to be held at the park at 7 p.m. Friday — and, as organizers have noted, hopefully it will become an annual event.

Chance Hug, who is putting together the “Shootout” with his father, Dwayne Hug, and his grandfather, Keith Hug, all of whom are working with Ron Alverson on the pull, said the family has “always wanted to do a big tractor pull,” since they have put together garden tractor pulls for Pride of Hoyt in the past — and in the case of the garden tractor pull, this year’s event is no exception.

The “Shootout” will feature more than 120 “hitches,” or trucks and tractors participating in the pull, with 13 classes including two-wheel drive, 6,200-lb. modified trucks, heavy and light; 4x4 pro-stock truck; 4x4 limited pro-stock truck; 10,500-lb. super-field tractor, heavy and light; 9,000-lb. pro-field tractor, heavy and light; limited pro/super farm tractor, 8,500-lb. and 9,500-lb., and 2.5/2.6/3.0 diesel trucks.

Hug said the family hopes to see 500 to 1,000 spectators for the Friday night event, and bleachers will be available.

Admission is $10 for ages 18 and up and $5 for ages 6 through 17; children 5 and under will be admitted free. There will be a $10 per cooler fee and food trucks will be on site for the event, but alcohol will not be served on the grounds.

For more information, call Chance Hug at (785) 969-4481, Dwayne Hug at (785) 230-0630, Keith Hug at (785) 364-0324 or Alverson at (785) 256-1029.

The Hug family will also be in charge of the Saturday, Aug. 19 garden tractor pull in the park, and they are also looking at hosting more tractor pulls later in the year, it was reported.

Pride of Hoyt Days events on Saturday will include the parade, featuring longtime Hoyt residents Larry and Beth Fenske as grand marshals, according to event organizer Nancy Bailey.

“They’ve been pretty active in our community over the years,” Bailey said of the Fenskes, noting Larry’s service with the Hoyt City Council, the Jackson County Commission and the Masons; Beth’s work with the Royal Valley school board and the Hoyt cemetery board; and their work together as 4-H leaders and with Hoyt United Methodist Church.

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