Truehearted American

"Gene "Shorty" Joseph Peterson of Springville prepares to circles the track during the national anthem before competitors race lawnmowers at Salem Arena on Saturday. Peterson was racing for the first time this year. "I just retired and have been wanting to do it for years," Peterson said. "It's the most fun I've had without drugs or alcohol.""

This past weekend I promised to follow up with a group of lawnmower racers in Springville. I had wanted to do a story on them.

A couple months ago, I got to spend less than an hour with the group when I was searching for a feature.

I promised to get back in touch when they had another race coming up. But the first time I ended up switching to my demolition derby story because the lawnmower race was far from our coverage area.

And this time, well, a herniated disc has me laid up and in Maryland recovering.

I hope I can meet up with them before then end of the year or when their season begins in 2011.