Chardon Smile Center Makes Clean Sweep
April 26, 2022 by Becky Boban

Chardon Smile Center had a good reason to grin after taking home first place in the Men’s, Women’s and co-ed Thirty & Over divisions at The 91st Geauga County Maple Festival’s Bathtub Races April 24.

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“I think this is the first time we’ve won all three,” said Chardon Smile Center’s Dr. Chris Phillips after the award ceremony.

At 11 a.m. Sunday, the Bathtub Races initiated the day’s festivities. Using cast iron-style bathtubs equipped with steering, teams of three — two pushers and one driver — raced one another two at a time down Main Street on Chardon Square toward state Route 6, before rounding a traffic cone and sprinting back to the starting line.

The first scurry resulted in a warped rear-left wheel when the Fairport Lady Skippers tried to clear the cone. Though the rim was crushed and wonky, the team ran their tub back to finish. However, the vehicle wasn’t fit to race again. The Fairport Skippers were permitted to compete by borrowing long-time participant RE/MAX’s tub for their remaining races.

The group won third in the Women’s division and won Best in Show, and the Geauga County Maple Festival promised a $100 donation toward a new tire for their tub.

First-time participants, the Colonels, a team of firefighters and police from Northeast Ohio, also had a mishap with one of their wheels, a bicycle tire, when rounding the cone.

“It’s all in the turn. They got to practice the turn cause that’s where you could win the race or that’s where you lose the race,” Phillips admitted.

He said Chardon Smile makes a point to practice the infamous turn a few days before, “some years more than others.”

D is for Delicious — also a new contender — nearly snatched Chardon Smile’s placement. In the second-to-last race, D is for Delicious’ turquois tub shot to the finish, one of its runners pumping his arm triumphantly as he sprinted.

In a final run, however, Chardon Smile maintained the win.

While each first, second and third place winners receive $150, $100 and $50 respectively, for Phillips’ team, most of it will go back into festival, he said, adding he was looking ahead to buying syrup.

“We actually like the plaques because we have all the plaques hanging up in our office,” he said. “Every year, we rotate the plaques, put the new ones up.”

Phillips said the anticipation and the build-up of the bathtub races are what make the event special — and getting young community members, like the Chardon softball team, involved.

“It’s nice to see everybody out, especially after being cancelled the last few years. When you have weather like this, it’s even better,” Phillips said. “It’s a lot of fun.”