Chippewa River District Library to host RC car event for local families

The Chippewa River District Library will host the Off to the Races! family event Saturday, giving local teams a chance to race their RC cars at City Hall.

The event features various race-themed activities and attractions including a drag strip, balloon races, a chance to talk to professional dirt track drivers. The event will also present an opportunity for attendees to make their own cars to take home. Canned food donations for the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen are welcome.

"I'm always trying to come up with exciting and intriguing ideas especially ones that can ignite a passion in someone or expose them to an interest that they might not have known of," said Rebecca Bundy, family programmer for the library.

Bundy said each summer, the library has a different theme to encourage children to read. The theme in 2014 is science, so Bundy said it was a perfect fit to combine engineering principles in vehicle racing with getting kids interested.

"I have this wishlist of events that I dreamed up and if I can get all the pieces together then I will do it," Bundy said. "I had this one on my wishlist for about a year and a half or two."

This event boasts a long list of sponsors, many from vehicle related business fields. The Central Michigan RC Car Club was one of the event's initial sponsors.

The club meets in Finch Fieldhouse on the campus of Central Michigan University Sundays from October through April to race on an indoor carpet track.

Race Director Scott Nestle said anyone can participate as they race hobby-grade cars, not expensive models.

"We want to expose the public to RC racing in an area where it has been been for some time," Nestle said.

Because the cars are all mechanically the same, he said the challenge comes from driving ability, what he called the, "X-Factor." He described the races as, "action-packed" and quite competitive.

A number of businesses that have sponsored the event are scheduled to decorate their own cars in the race. A raffle will also be held.

Bundy said community organizations flocked to the idea as a unique way to get their name out in the public consciousness.

Off to the Races starts 4 p.m. Saturday outside the Mount Pleasant City Hall and is open to the public.