The City of Chattanooga played host to the 2019 Tennessee Chapter of American Public Works Association annual statewide equipment rodeo. The City of Alcoa sent a team of 15 participants: Tommy Bowman, Donnie Cupp, Jeff Long, Ronnie Everett, Tyler McGlothin, Jim Merriman, Tim Merriman, Wayne Nelson, David Sparks, Travis Yoakum, and “Coach” Katie Huffstetler. Tensions ran high as they always do at any competition. The sound of brakes squealing and engines revving filled the air.  All those in attendance made it a point to try and figure out who the fiercest competitors were, dressing each other down to see who the real “Operators” were.   As competitors stared each other down you could almost hear the theme music from “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”. 

Some hands were thrown into the air in disagreement because of a missed call from a judge, but everyone understood that this is to be expected in any competition. In the end The City of Alcoa team placed 3^rd overall among all the cities in the state. Our crew put up a good fight with many individuals finishing in the Top Ten in their respective events.  Two of our competitors even scored a podium finish.  Jeff Long placed 2^nd on the Skid Steer event and was right on the heels of the first-place finisher with only a few seconds difference. But I believe everyone who was there would agree that the City of Alcoa’s MVP would have to go to Travis Yoakum who smoked the time on the knuckle boom and left all the competition picking their jaws up instead of the brick they were supposed to pick up!  Congratulations to both of you!