The Lake Garnett Grand Prix Revival is now in its 13th year. Many of the people who sat around that table in January 2014 are still involved. The event has grown, evolved, and taken on a life that the founding group could only imagine when they were building track schedules on spreadsheets and debating port-a-potty placement.
Two of the three founding members are gone.
CB Harris, the man who opened the gates in 2013 and made everyone believe this was possible, passed away several years ago. His wife Cheryl – who was beside him at every meeting, every event, every decision – passed away as well. They were, by every account, inseparable in life and in the work they gave to this event. In those final months of preparation, when the car show needed someone to carry it after the committee chair stepped back, CB and Cheryl simply took it on. That was who they were.
Denny Hale, treasurer and registration chairman, the steady and dependable third of the founding group, passed away recently. He and his wife Ruth ran registration with the same quiet competence they brought to everything. The line moved. The wristbands went on. The cars went out on the track. It looked easy because Denny made it look easy.
Darren Traub, the third founding member, remains. He was there on the track in 2013 in his Austin Healey Frogeye when none of them knew what the day would become. He made the phone call to CB afterward. He is the last of the three, and he is the biggest fan of the event he helped to create.
The Lake Garnett Grand Prix Revival belongs to all of them – to CB and Cheryl, to Denny and Ruth, to Kevin Hinckle, to Tracy Modlin, to James Mackenzie, to Rick Van Tuyl, to Mick Mithelavage, to Dan McConnell, to Scott Ward, to Dean and Kay Owens, to the citizens of Garnett who showed up and helped, and to every committee member, corner worker, registration volunteer, sponsor, and participant who has kept it going across thirteen years.
The track is no longer a ghost. It comes back to life every year, and the people who did that know who they are.
Enjoy this ‘Just for Fun’ fictional podcast of what a radio show might have sounded like discussing the creation of LGGPR. This is an AI generated podcast based on the article above.
