Scott Lecy, event chair for Linwood’s cow chip tossing contest, peels back a tarp from a collection of discs that have dried for the Sept. 12 event.
Paul Rignell
Contributing Reporter
Head to the township of Linwood for its annual Family Fun Day on Saturday, Sept. 12, and you may just find friends there for a talk or a chat. In addition to “shooting the bull,” you could throw a cow chip.
Fun Day volunteers invite all men, women and children to enter their festival’s first cow chip toss, scheduled for 2 p.m. that day on the event grounds near Typo Creek Drive and 229th Ave. NE.
Throw a 6-inch-wide dried clump of cattle manure farther than any other participant, and you will leave the grounds with a Fun Day trophy plaque.
The volunteers have ordered four plaques for the event, including three title trophies for the top man, woman and youth throwers (age 15 or younger) plus an honorary plaque to be given to the registered contestant who has traveled the longest distance.
The cow chips will be provided. Each participant must choose their chips for the contest from an official Fun Day supply. As of late August, Linwood volunteers had collected nearly 300 cow chips from three area farms. Contest chairman Scott Lecy reported that a cow chip must dry for at least two weeks to be ready for a firm grasp and flight.
Each contestant will get two throws; adults will pay $3 per person for the privilege of playing, while youth and children participants are paying $1 each.
In preparing for the toss, each thrower must stand behind an 8-foot foul line. They do not need to throw the cow chip straight from the starting line, but the chip still must land within reasonable boundaries.
“Cow chips can have a mind of their own,” Lecy joked. “They don’t always go where you want them to.”
There will be a 32-foot regulation width marked off at a distance of 50 feet beyond the foul line.
Lecy said the contest is following championship rules for cow chip tossing, although as far as he knows, such competitions are rare in Minnesota.
Lecy threw cow chips as a sport for the first time about a year ago in Wisconsin. He and his wife, Cheryl, are Harley Davidson motorcycle enthusiasts and rode with some friends to the dealership in Sauk Prairie (near Madison) during Labor Day weekend last year. Lecy was intrigued to learn about Wisconsin’s state cow chip toss finals, which were happening there that weekend. He paid an entry fee to participate, and he was excited to share his story with other Fun Day volunteers in Linwood.
The committee members agreed that cow chip tossing could be a fun feature for their festival.
Lecy researched the contest’s popularity in other states, and he found that cow chip tossing is a popular attraction at the Iowa State Fair, while ESPN and “CBS Sunday Morning” have covered the annual national finals held in Beaver, Oklahoma.
Jim Caldwell, principal at Linwood Elementary School, will throw a “first pitch” of a cow chip at the Fun Day event, and he intends to challenge his school’s students to join in the fun.
Participants are not allowed to wear any gloves, but Lecy promised that all contestants will be able to clean their hands after throwing, as the organizers have gathered several large bottles and 50 smaller containers of hand sanitizer.
For those who would rather watch the cow chip tossing in Linwood, there are several other Fun Day events Sept. 12 to keep them active.
A 5K run and walk will be based at the Linwood Covenant Church, with registration beginning 7:15 a.m. and the race starting promptly at 8 a.m.
Cub Scouts are serving pancakes from 7:30-10:30 a.m. in the Linwood Senior Center, at 22817 Typo Creek Drive, and the town’s firefighters will be ladling booya at their station starting at 10 a.m.
A flea market, swap meet, and car and tractor shows will run midmorning until 3 p.m. in Broadbent Park, and a craft fair, other food vendors, and some midway-style games for children (along with inflatable attractions) will be featured in the outdoor area behind the Town Hall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Starting at 11 a.m. in that area, the Fun Day petting zoo will open, and the event committee expects to welcome some Clydesdale horses. Children can take pony rides from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., while adults can test their endurance while riding a mechanical bull.
Take a cake walk in the senior center between noon and 4 p.m. or observe a pie eating contest at 4 p.m.
Entertainment from a talent contest at 5 p.m. will precede the firefighters annual dance at 8 p.m.
Admission is $5 to the dance, which will feature the band Whiskey Stone.
A fireworks show will cap off Linwood Family Fun Day at dusk over Broadbent Park.
The event committee is promoting its festival on a Linwood Family Fun Day page on Facebook, including videos from other cow chip tossing competitions.