Pulling for Guatemala

IRONWOOD - Just how fast can nine people pull a semi truck and trailer a distance of 20 feet?

In what may have looked like a physics experiment or a Friday training for the Commercial Motor Vehicle Licensing (CDL) program at Gogebic Community College, was actually nine teams competing in the third annual "18 legs versus 18 wheels" competition and fundraiser for the GCC service learning program trip to Guatemala from May 16-24, 2020.

"We put the fun back into fundraising," said Janie Williams, service learning trip coordinator. "It's a lot of fun. It's a challenge and its doable."

The team members were sponsored or paid $10 for each pull to raise around $1,200. The teams were comprised of GCC students, faculty and staff, along with employees of area businesses.

The truck was provided by the college's CDL program. The driver, Connie Hicks, the CDL instructor, dutifully moved the truck back after each team took a turn pulling the 30,000 pound tractor-trailer 20 feet using a tug-of-war rope.

The staff of Extreme Tool & Engineering of Wakefield Township won the event for the third year. They had some competition this year, however, and had to fork over another $90 for the nine members for an extra pull to keep their bragging rights.

Extreme pulled out to an early lead with a 7.55 second pull in their first attempt, but the Gogebic Range Health Foundation team of weightlifters from Ashland, Wis., achieved a 6.97 second pull to jump ahead. Extreme's second pull of 6.83 seconds was not only good enough for first place but broke the team's 2018 record of 6.85 seconds.

Brian Miljevich, an engineer at Extreme, said the employees enjoy the challenge and that it's also a good cause.

"We also get three hours off work," Miljevich said.

Steve Hamilton, the corporate safety manager at Extreme, said the team has size and a couple of weightlifters but credited technique for the success.

"You can have all the muscle in the world but if you don't have a technique and a good team you won't win," Hamilton said. "After three years we have the technique down."

Derek Miller, of Ashland, said the GRHF team was motivated. He said that as weightlifters, the chance to form a team for the health foundation just something they "had to do."

"We workout together in the gym, so it's the challenge of it," Miller said.

Serena Mershon-Lohkamp, a chemistry instructor at the college, said she was pleased with this year's STUDS (Science and Technology UndergraD Students) team. Their time of 9.77 seconds was more than 2 seconds faster than the team's 11.72 score in 2018 and 11.81 in 2017.

"This will be my third year and we have some muscle this year," Mershon-Lohkamp said. "The Guatemala trip is a wonderful opportunity for students and so it's good to be able to support it."

Joe Rocco, a STUDS team member, said he wanted the team to "dust the competition."

"We got extra credit," Rocco said.

Rocco also joined the Delta Force team, which was sponsored without members and so was comprised of people from STUDS, Extreme and GRHF.

Other teams included the Team Aloha, comprised of GCC staff; Smokey y Los Banditos, more GCC faculty and staff; Team Invisible, a sponsored team without members, and the CDL team, Concrete Cowboys.

There were also some three and four person teams to try and pull the truck with as few people as possible.

Williams said the idea for the truck pull came from watching her a similar event her daughter took part in as an employee of Delta Airlines. They had a fundraiser event where teams of 20 people pulled a 166,000-pound jet for 20 feet, she said.

Taking that idea and turning it into a semi truck pull seemed natural with the CDL program at GCC, she said.

The service learning trip to Guatemala is nearing the minimum required roster of 15 people, Williams said. The maximum is 20 and is open to the public.