Oct 25, 2014 2 min read

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The United Way holds a cardboard boat race on the Deegan and Hinkle lakes in Harrison County, Bridgeport, W.Va. This year’s race was held Oct. 12. The purpose of the race is to raise money for the United Way and have a good time. It is $20 for individuals and $30 for teams who wish to participate. The hosts also provided food and beverages for $1 each. Contestants race across one of the two lakes in a personally designed cardboard boat and, in the end, receive trophies as a reward.

The boat can be made of only cardboard, duct tape and one layer of polyurethane. Each contestant has to have an original name for their boat and most boats had something unique about them. Designs could be anything from a pirate ship to a shark to just a plain old boat. Creativity was encouraged when it came to designing, as long as it didn’t help with the flotation of the boat.

There were trophies given out to first, second and third places, all going by time. Trophies were also rewarded for “The Wonder that went Down Under” (most original sinking), People’s Choice and best design. In total, there were 6 trophies rewarded in both the adult and juniors categories.

This year was my first time participating in the cardboard boat race for the United Way. My friend Noelle McKinney and I both decided it would be a fun thing to do. Plus, it was for a good cause. Noelle decided on Karasuno for our boat name, and our boat design was fairly simple compared to some of our opponents. My dad built it for us because we couldn’t possible build a decent boat that would float ourselves. We painted it blue and green after taking a long time collecting paint samples. Sadly, we didn’t win, but our boat did stay afloat the entire time – we just had an unorganized paddling strategy. Though we didn’t win, we both had a great time, and $1,500 was raised for the United Way.