The art of mastering the siphon tube was revived at the competition held this past Saturday at the Heritage Park as part of Henderson’s Q125 Community Day’s celebration. “When we started at 2 P.M. we only had about a dozen people signed up to participate,†said organizer Randy Ratzlaff. By the end of the day, 32 people had tried their hand at siphoning and the competition proved to be as “hot†as the day was!
There were seven individuals who participated in the 30 and under age group and the remaining 27 were over the age of 30.
Winners in the younger age group were:
1st place – Samantha Haack – 42.5 seconds
2nd place:Â Kendall Siebert – 48.03 seconds
3rd place:Â Katie Tonkin – 63.75 seconds
Winners of the 31 and up age group were:
1st place:Â Dale Goertzen – 32.38 seconds
2nd place:Â Russ Regier – 34.38 seconds
3rd place:Â Marlin Rempel – 36.50 seconds
Young and old were able to participate in the event and there were several 80-plus-year-olds who proved they still had the knack for siphoning. A set of 12 rows alongside a ditch was built by Henderson Heritage & Tourism volunteers John Huebert, Carl Siebert and Harvey Smith. The Henderson Fire Department was on hand to provide water for the ditch as participants siphoned it out of each tube.
Randy Ratzlaff followed each participant checking the tube to see if it was properly draining and a five second penalty was assessed if a tube was not siphoning. Helping him run the competition was Vern Friesen. “I really want to thank John, Carl and Harvey who got the ball rolling and took care of making sure this contest was possible,†said Ratzlaff.
Shannon Siebert
