31 cars competed in the 19th annual Tombstone Trail on October 26. The event started in Cannon Falls, MN and ended 3 hours later in Red Wing. Contestants were given a map and a list of questions, most of which were answered at cemeteries in Goodhue County.
Bill Tifft and Gary Starr were the overall winners and first in Class A, scoring an amazing 610 points. Just 2 points behind were Bill Bjorklund and Bob Baerg, followed by Dave and Rachel Fuss. Bjorklund and Baerg made a valiant final lunge for the trophy, guessing at the writing on a certain barn. Unfortunately, they guessed "The Hansons", and the correct answer was "Only wind speaks in the empty treetops - the mute famer draws a fish in the March snow". After careful deliberation, the judges threw out their answer and they finished 2nd.
First in Class B and 3rd overall were last year's Class C winners, Hudson Leighton and Dawn Holmberg with an impressive 572 points. Sandra Nohava and Jim Slosson, 3rd in Class C last year, were 2nd, followed by Dave Merrifield and Steve Holes in 3rd.
By a strange coincidence, Class C winners (and 6th overall) Mary and Mark Utecht were married by one of the answers, the pastor of the Vasa Lutheran Church. 2nd in Class C were Trina Lindemann and Joe Huttle, followed by Gerald and Sara Traver, both teams running their first event.
The coveted "dead last" award went to Doug and Ann Keller, who dressed as a bride and groom and happen to have been married on Halloween. The best costume trophies went to Blythe Johnston and Jody Kline for their "doctor and patient", and Tim and Amy Zeigler's son (sorry, forgot his name) for his rendition of "Pooh".
The best story awards went to Ben Sand, for his tale of brushing up to an electric fence, and to Blythe and Jody, et al, for collecting 3 of the 5 hidden medallions without knowing what they were! By the way, the other two medallions were found by Leighton/Holmberg and Utecht/Utecht.
As promised, I returned to Hay Creek 19 at 1:00 in the morning to verify my answer. Sure enough, there were at least 2 "Baby" Bangs buried there. I gave cars 18, 22 and 25 credit for their answers on that one. The other teams who got it wrong did so because they wrote their answers in the wrong place. All three teams, moved up in the points a little, but it did not affect the trophy positions.
The most visited cemetery was Cannon Falls 19, with 26 teams answering that one. The least visited was Wacouta 32 (East Ave) with only 3 teams answering.
The easiest cemetery was either Cannon Falls 18 (Nettie C) or Goodhue 17 (Ella), with 25 teams answering correctly at each (none wrong). The hardest was Hay Creek 19 east, with 3 of 16 teams getting it wrong, either by getting the wrong fire number or by writing it in the wrong space.
The hardest special question was the lawyers at the bank, with only 3 teams getting it. The easiest was the state senator, with 26 teams scoring correctly.
Several teams advanced to a higher seed after this event. The lucky contestants being bumped to Class A are Hudson Leighton, Dawn Holmberg, Sandy Nohava and Jim Slosson. Moving to Class B are Mark Utecht and Mary Utecht.
Next year, for the 20th Tombstone Trail, we are going to return to Fillmore County, MN, site of the first 7 Tombstone Trails. I hope you can all make it!
Mark Larson