11 beds ready to race in Zelie Bed Derby
Mayor and organizer Tom Oliviero said 11 beds are set to face off in the second annual Zelienople Bed Derby on Thursday, July 6.
“We had three beds last year; now we’ve got 11,” Oliviero said. “I expect a big crowd this Thursday, so I expect next year we’re going to probably have a lot more than 11.”
Starting at 6:30 p.m., the derby will challenge teams of five to race personalized beds through the borough’s streets.
“But you have to push with four people — there’s no steering,” Oliviero said. “You got a person riding it, and they’re going to go between cones.”
Individual teams navigate the cones to complete timed challenges, according to Oliverio, such as peeling an orange.
“My police department, they lost last year because the police officer who was peeling the orange did not know how to peel an orange,” he said with a chuckle. “He said, ‘I’ve never peeled an orange in my life — how do you peel an orange?’”
After — hopefully — a year of orange-peeling practice, the Zelienople Police Department is returning as one of the participating teams, according to Oliviero.
Also returning will be a team from the Harmony-Zelienople Methodist Church to face newcomers, including Armstrong, Zelienople Boy Scouts, Zelienople Veterans Breakfast Club and Karski & Spokane Orthodontics.
“And they can do whatever they want with the bed — decorate it, advertise — whatever they want to do, as long as it’s all legal,” Oliviero said. “If they want to have a mascot walking around, that’s okay too. It’s going to be very entertaining.”
While the construction and decoration of the “beds” is open-ended, Oliviero did stipulate one requirement.
“It doesn’t matter what it is — it’s a bed, you can make it out of two-by-fours, whatever — but you have to have rubber wheels on it,” he said. “You’re with this bed on a street, so you don’t want to do any damage to the street itself.”
The race starts on 227 S. High St., Oliviero said, beginning with an opening ceremony before teams race past the Zelienople Area Public Library.
“We’re going to have the national anthem before the race; that’ll get people all wound up,” Oliviero said.
And all of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the library at the end of the race.
“We’ve been raising some money,” Oliviero said, “and we have our sponsors and so forth.”
This year’s derby is sponsored by Karski & Spokane Orthodontics, Armstrong and MVP Insurance.
The heart of the derby, though, is about celebrating youth in the community, Oliviero said.
He said he was inspired to start the tradition in 2020, after witnessing a similar derby in Wisconsin while visiting his daughter.
“COVID was pretty strong at the time, so they didn’t have a lot of beds — but the kids were having a great time,” Oliviero said. “And I said, ‘This is something we have to do in Zelienople’ ...”
While last year’s race only saw three beds participate, Oliviero said the kids who raced against the police department “had a ball” — encouraging him to try to grow the race this year.
“I think you’re going to be surprised by the people who are going to be standing and watching the race, and they’re going to be cheering everybody on,” he said. “And they’re going to get excited about it, because now there’s quite a few beds in there.”
He said he expects the number of teams to grow each year after the community comes out for Thursday’s derby.
“Everybody’s going to have a lot of fun,” Oliviero said. “That’s the whole idea — we’re going to have fun with it.”
