On Saturday August 29th, Special Olympics of Kentucky held their annual Big Brown Truck Pull. For the past three years Council 14372, Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary in Lexington, has competed in the Big Brown Truck Pull to help raise money for Special Olympics. This year things got a little more interesting when Council 14130, Christ the King in Lexington also participated. Each team is asked to raise at least $1,000 for Special Olympics and that entitles them to two attempts to pull the full size 18 wheeler UPS truck 12 feet. If a team raises $1,500 or more they get a third pull. Mary Queen raised $1,205 and Christ the King raised $1,625 earning themselves a third pull. In total all teams raised over $17,000 for Special Olympics of Kentucky.
When Knights of Columbus councils compete for Special Olympics, everybody wins!
Of course no friendly competition would be complete without a little light hearted smack talk. So Cameron Peck, a member of the Mary Queen council, attended Christ the King’s business meeting and “informed” them that his council would be pulling the truck in less time than they would. Chris Luketich, Grand Knight of Christ the King, used this to motivate his team.
Both councils have a close tie to the Special Olympics. Mark Buerger is the Communications Director for Special Olympics and also a member of the Mary Queen Council. And Christian Massie is a Special Olympics athlete and also the son of Brother Dale Massie of Christ the King Council.
Mary Queen had the 1st shot at pulling the truck and recorded their best time on their second attempt pulling the truck 12 feet in 5.24 seconds. After Christ the King pulled the truck two times things were looking good for Mary Queen. But on the 3rd pull that they earned for raising over $1,500, Christ the King pulled the truck 12 feet in 5.18 seconds besting the Mary Queen Council by .06 seconds and earning themselves bragging rights for the next year. Mary Queen has vowed to come back and reclaim the title next year. Ultimately it would be great to see all the councils in Central Kentucky compete in the Big Brown Truck Pull because when Knights of Columbus councils compete for Special Olympics, everybody wins!