Flooding couldn't drag down annual boat races
By Katie Humphrey
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF, Sunday, August 12, 2007
MARBLE FALLS - The water that menaced this Hill Country town six weeks ago is the center of a lively celebration this weekend.
The 16th annual Lakefest and drag boat races almost didn't happen after Marble Falls got 19 inches of rain in six hours June 27 . The park used as a "pit" for the boats and the riverside spectators area were underwater, and the park's main road was nearly washed away.
But talk of the floods hardly came up Saturday afternoon, as hundreds of people perched in lawn chairs on the hilly riverbank sipped beers and gnawed on barbecue while watching boats whiz across the water at up to 240 miles per hour.
"This is good American fun," said John Monaghan , 51 , who came from Bulverde to watch the drag boats. "You get to hang out by the water and hear the speed and the sound and the noise."
There was definitely a lot of noise.
Many spectators wore earplugs as they watched brightly painted boats with names such as Hydrochondriac rev their engines before skimming across the water.
Finals for all classes of boats are today . Park entry is $20, and gates open at 7 a.m.
The event, which attracts up to 15,000 people from across the region and more than 100 racers from across the country, is a fundraiser for the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce.
This year's Lakefest took more work than usual to pull off. When it was mentioned at a chamber meeting the day after the flood, a hush fell over the room, said Christian Fletcher , the chamber's executive director. Festival preparations quickly kicked into overdrive, he said.
The entire town was without potable water for a while, and getting local businesses back up was a challenge. People's homes were destroyed and cars washed away. The bridge in Johnson Park, the traditional "pit" for the drag boats and crews, was among many in the area that were all or partly washed out.
But much of the damage has been remedied, Fletcher said.
The flooding forced other extra preparations for this year's festival.
The city worked with the Lower Colorado River Authority to hire a diver who examined the bottom of Lake Marble Falls for debris that could be hazardous to the drag boats. None of the 22 vehicles that had washed away in the flood was found on the bottom, Fletcher said.
The chamber also stepped up publicity for this year's Lakefest. Organizers were afraid that racers, who started calling to ask about the event shortly after the flood, would stay away, Fletcher said.
Traffic is one of the main lingering problems, Fletcher said. Both locals and visitors are forced to use the main thoroughfares, U.S. 281 and RM 1431, while bridges are being rebuilt on side streets.
"It's been pretty remarkable to watch how everybody has come together," Fletcher said. "I think people's spirits are picking back up."
