TURTLEFEST TRADITION STRONG AFTER 20 YEARS

Hannibal may have its frog-jumping contest, but Cape Girardeau has its turtle-racing contest.

After 20 years of Riverfest, the turtle race and the best-dressed turtle contest are still two of the most popular attractions to the annual festival by the river.

"It's kind of a unique thing," said Peggy Barringer, who has been involved with organizing the turtle events for several years. "A lot of kids look forward to this every year. Since the kids are usually 5 to 12 years old, they might get into it for several years. It's become a yearly family tradition."

Phyliss Simmons, who is in charge of children's activities at this year's Riverfest, said the turtle races and best-dressed turtle contest have been around since the very first Riverfest in 1978. Organizers wanted to come up with an interesting contest families would enjoy. They did not want to copy Hannibal's famous frog-jumping contest, so they decided on turtle racing.

The turtle races are run in heats. Five turtles start from the center of a circle and whichever reaches the edge first wins the heat. Heat winners then move on to the next round to face other winners. The heats continue until there is a final winner.

This year, the races start at 3 p.m. on Saturday with sign-ups running from 12:30 p.m. to 2:45, both at the Family Area. The best-dressed turtle will be announced at 4. Simmons said there are usually 35 to 50 children signed up for the race.

Heat winners receive certificates, and the overall winner receives a $100 savings bond from Commerce Bank. The winner of the best-dressed turtle contest receives a $30 gift certificate from Goody's Family Clothing Store.

With most yearly traditions, interesting things are bound to happen.

"We've had to run the race under a yellow flag because of wet conditions one year," she said.

On another occasion the race was extremely fast 15 years ago when river barges served as stages. "The minute the turtles hit the hot stage, they were going," she said. "We almost didn't catch one turtle before it went over the edge of the barge."

Barringer laughs when she thinks of some of the costumes turtles have had over the years. "We've had turtles dressed from ballerinas to the Delta Queen," she said. "We don't allow paint on the turtles and kids have to tape costumes on them, so we've had some very exotic costumes."

But overall, Barringer said the events are another part of the family atmosphere at Riverfest.