The Hillbilly Alympics are being held at Diamond Lake Resort starting at 11 a.m. Saturday. To kick off the opening ceremonies, Mr. and Mrs. Hillybilly will be chosen and then the athletes and spectators will follow behind as the two carry the Alympic torch to light the cauldron, which is a Weber grill.
“We try to mimic the Olympics as much as possible,” said Brian Smith, who owns Diamond Lake Resort with his wife, Janice.
Once the cauldron is lit, the games begin. With fun for all ages, the games include a timed truck pull for men and women where a pick-up truck is pulled 50 feet in each direction using a barge rope.
Next is a tire toss, where kids throw a go-kart tire, women throw a car tire and men throw a truck tire and the distance is measured.
The tire roll relay, a team event, has participants rolling a tire until all of the teams have competed and a winner is declared.
As with the Olympics, the Hillbilly Alympics award gold, silver and bronze to the winners and the winners receive their awards on the podium — made of three toilets.
“It is such a prestigious prize,” Smith said laughing. “Of course we also offer a photo opportunity for the winners on the podium.”
At the end of the games, around 2 p.m., Smith said there is a closing ceremony where they extinguish the torch, something Smith said tongue-in-cheek is “very solemn.”
Smith credits their daughter, Amy Boling, for the ideas for their “crazier” events and said they then mold them to fit them to the local area.
All Alympic events at Diamond Lakes Resort are free and open to the public even though the bulk of the people who attend the events are staying at the resort.
“The Alympics are going on seven years and they are really well received,” Smith said.
Diamond Lakes Resort is located at 7301 Hobbs Rd.
