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Ready, Set, Crash Them Up… Demolition Derby & Field Days Are Just Around The Corner

 Geoffrey Grant, Gary Grant Jr, Gary Grant Sr, and the whole extended Grant clan are prepping for Demolition Derby and if you don’t believe it, just drive by the house because the front yard is loaded with this years entries.
photo by photo provided by Grant family
Geoffrey Grant, Gary Grant Jr, Gary Grant Sr, and the whole extended Grant clan are prepping for Demolition Derby and if you don’t believe it, just drive by the house because the front yard is loaded with this years entries.
Each of the family has their own strategy in the competition and all three have enjoyed some success!
photo by photo provided by Grant family
Each of the family has their own strategy in the competition and all three have enjoyed some success!
Trophies are great and the wins are forever, but what keeps this family and so many others like it coming back each year is the celebration of fun , family and friends.
photo by photo provided by Grant family
Trophies are great and the wins are forever, but what keeps this family and so many others like it coming back each year is the celebration of fun , family and friends.
Showing it is not all for the guys, Geoffrey’s girlfriend Stephanie and mom Tammy Grant have each taken their turn in the winner’s circle!
photo by photo provided by Grant family
Showing it is not all for the guys, Geoffrey’s girlfriend Stephanie and mom Tammy Grant have each taken their turn in the winner’s circle!

Tuesday July 29, 2014

By Cookie Steponaitis

Even the diehard Demolition Derby competitors will admit that it is a bit odd. You work for weeks to get ready and have the right car, the right materials and plan your driving strategy just to wreck the vehicle and have a heck of a lot of fun while you are doing it. Well, just another of those unique oddities of life in Addison County, correct! You betcha!
For the Grant family and any of the neighbors it is quite apparent that Demolition Derby and Field Days is just around the corner. “You can see it just driving by,” explained Tammy Grant. “Our yard looks like a used car lot and every afternoon and night there is somebody over working on one of the vehicles. Field Day prep has begun.” Geoffrey Grant has watched the Demolition Derby since he was an infant, but began competing about four years ago when he was sixteen. A regular in Field Days competitions, Geoffrey came to Demolition Derby after a stint in the arm wrestling contests and the pedal tractor pulls. Older brother Gary started in the Demolition Derby in 1987 and only stopped for a couple of years because of a non-related injury that stopped him from competing. Gary’s first ride in the demolition area was when he was seventeen.
    Getting ready is more than just a whim. Geoffrey Grant explained the activities at his house start early.         “It’s fun,” remarked the younger Grant. “Getting ready means starting in August right after the fair looking for the perfect reasonably priced car for the following year. Sometimes you can get a car cheap or free, but other times you have to pay for the perfect car. I generally end up looking for larger cars to participate in the V8 heat.” Older brother Gary chimes in, “Because I like being able to hit other cars. It’s not a normal thing to do and the only time I can get away with it. It takes many hours getting the car ready, you have to strip it of all glass, plastic, exterior chrome and wheel weights. Many people will cut their exhaust off and put the battery inside their car on the passenger side floor and strap it down. This keeps it from getting broken when you’re hit in the front end. Depending on the car the gas tank may need to be removed if it’s behind the rear axle because it can get smashed and start leaking which will disqualify you and get you shut down. If the gas tank is behind the axle you put it in the rear seat and put a fire shield over it then strap it down.”
    Both young men credit watching their mom and dad compete and win as inspiration for getting involved in the first place.  Besides the thrill of the prep and the driving, both see it as a social time and getting to be with neighbors and friends. “It really is like old home week when you catch up with everyone,” remarked Gary.     Each member of the Grant family has their own special Demolition Derby memory and dad Gary senior added, “I watched my wife Tammy win the Demolition Derby feature with a V8 Ford LTD in 1997. She went up against legends Willie Lafountain, Dave Dunbar and Paul Audet. It was a last minute decision on her part; she didn’t go to the fair with the intention of participating but decided when a car was offered to her that she would try it”
    When asked about all the cars on the lawn in various stages of ‘getting ready’ Geoffrey Grant simply grinned and patiently pointed out those headed for Demolition Derby and maybe even Addison County Fair fame. “There is a 1977 Mercury Cougar, 1979 Cadillac Eldorado and I’m getting a Chevy Mailbu ready for my girlfriend Stephanie Commo who won the 6 cylinder class last year. The key to winning or lasting during the heat is to protect your front end; once your radiator is broken your car doesn’t last long once it’s overheated.” Dad and Demolition Derby winner Gary Grant, Sr. admitted he is not driving this year but offered some tips for those with visions of winning. “The secrets I would give are to stay out of the middle that way they can only get you from one direction and not all directions,” concluded Gary. “If you can get a friend in the same heat it works well because they will help you if you get in trouble. Older Grant son Gary, Jr. chimed in, “I’m entering a Subaru wagon, a Ford Escort and a Chrysler. I’ve learned the harder you hit the better show you put on. It’s not about winning; it’s about the performance you put on for the crowd.”
    Art Grant, family patriarch and third generation Field Days participant added the final touch on explaining why this is a special a time of year. While he never participated in anything back in 1955 when the fair was hosted by Gordon Smith in Addison, Art Grant and Frank Meacham brush hogged and cleared the site for the fair. Today that site is known as the DAR State Park. Art will be at Field Days; never you worry, watching his Tractor Pulls, watching his twin sons pull with their trucks and his grandsons in the Demolition Derby. And mostly Art will be ‘just visitin’ and seeing folks that it has just been a long time since they last talked.
    In short, come to Addison County Field Days and be a part of the fabric of life in Addison County. See people, mix, mingle, ride, eat, watch, participate and just soak in what it means to be a Vermonter and to call this side of the Green Mountains home. Looking for the Grants? Well, they will be there just as they have been for three generations, like their friends and neighbors loving getting ready and being at Field Days.


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