Glendon Derby hits 31 years this weekend

Cars, trucks, food — and that’s just the tip of the mudbog at this year’s Glendon Derby.

The Glendon Ag Society’s signature event is rearing up for Saturday in the village and they are hoping for record crowds for this year’s event, especially since it is the first since 2019.

“It’s so cool to see the generosity of so many companies of so many individuals volunteering their time to make this event a special event,” said Ag Society president Ken Pshyk. “We need to thank the Village of Glendon for letting us use these grounds once again. This is the Village of Glendon grounds. So thank you very much for letting us do that.

“This is the Glendon Ag Society’s biggest fundraising event and every dollar goes to the betterment of our hall and our arena. So the society does, there’s a lot of different things, but the halls are the biggest things that we try and make money for. We just recently renovated the floor in the hall to the tune of just under $80,000. These fundraising events are very, very important. We have some of the lowest hall and arena rentals in the area,” he said. 

It’s a full day event in Glendon that begins bright and early.

At 8:00am you can enjoy a pancake breakfast at the Senior’s Hall, which is the same time that the Farmer’s Market begins and runs until noon.

The parade begins at 10:30am with candy for the young ones, several float displays, and many cars and trucks participating. After the parade, the fire department will have burgers on the barbeque.

The derby grounds open at 11:00am with the driver’s auction to follow at 12:30pm.

“The cars and the trucks — you get to bid on who do you think is going to win the total event. So if I think truck number 007 is going to win, I will bid on it and the successful bidder if that truck wins, you get half the pot. So half goes to you, half goes to the Ag Society,” said Psyhk. 

“Then we start the derby right after that.” 

Billed as a halftime show, the Kehewin Native Dance Theatre will perform midway through the event. Plus, there is a static monster truck display for kids to check out.

The action happens just two miles north on Highway 882. There are no pets allowed on-site and spectators are reminded to bring a lawn chair and either ear protection or different clothes if you’re sitting close to the mud.

“I’ve been here for a lot of years. It is exciting. We’ve had trucks upside down. We’ve had cars upside down. They flip them back up and they keep on going again.

“We’re looking for record crowds. The long range forecasts are supposed to be really really nice. So come on, come on, bring your family and let’s have a great time,” said Psyhk. 

There are different admission rates depending on age. A family pass is $60, while adults 18 and older are $20, youth 11-17 are $10, kids aged 6-10 are $5 and anyone younger is free.