Freedom from Asphalt

There is nothing like the thrill of driving at top speed through an obstacle course on an ATV. That is probably why so many kids sign up for the Elkhart County 4-H ATV club. The club had its annual ATV rodeo at the grandstands.

Photo: Advanced ATV'er heading for the straightaway

The organizational leaders for the ATV club, Adam and Jennifer Noffsinger, explained how the rodeo works. Driving the course requires you to weave through cones, drive over tires and steer around barrels. The members are divided into three groups: beginner, intermediate and advanced. The beginners are the first group to go. There are quite a few kids in the beginners group. The beginners do one lap of the course.

The intermediates are the second group to start. They do two laps of the course. The advanced group are the third and final ones to go. The advanced group does two normal laps and one lap going the other way. The scoring works like this: each person does three runs. The average time of those three runs is that person’s final time.

Photo: Advanced ATV'er rounding a barrel

Kye Clark is a two-year member of the ATV club. He is in the beginner group. Clark has two older siblings who were 10-year members. Clark thinks he has been doing well in the rodeo and hoped to finish in first place.

The Noffsingers say the best thing about leading the club is seeing how excited the kids are. Their favorite thing about the fair is food.

The ATV rodeo was postponed on account of lightning. Every member had done one run and the beginners were able to get two runs in before the weather moved in. The intermediates were halfway through when it began to lightning and the rodeo was postponed.