Repurposing the trophies

Earlier this month I left a message on the answering machine of the Big Lake Lions Club Rec Center and finally got a call back about a week later.

After some discussion, the gentleman said they were definitely interested in my box of old trophy awards and we made arrangements to connect.

Our son Patrick had packed more than 16 trophies into a box back in 1993 when we moved to a smaller house. My husband Gary and I hauled them among our household belongings twice more in additional moves, but the box was never unpacked until this past summer.

Although Patrick told us three years ago that (sight unseen) he didn’t want any of his stuff that we were storing, Gary insisted Patrick go through his boxes while he was in Alaska for a visit last August.

After several days of fishing adventures with his buddies and other Alaska vacation activities, Patrick was willing to squeeze in a couple of hours to go through his boxes. Gary kept him company out in the shop. Once he got started, Patrick was pleasantly surprised about some of the stuff that had been saved and appalled at other things. All of it brought back memories, but he definitely didn’t want any of it. He made three piles: throw away, give away and recycle.

However, after poking rather hit-and-miss through one densely packed box, he said he didn’t have time to look through it and agreed it probably contained things that shouldn’t be thrown out. We all decided that box could go back on the shelf for the time being.

I’d joined the guys shortly after Patrick had removed the 1993 newspaper packing from the trophies he earned during his radio control car racing days. He reluctantly agreed to let me take a photo. During the discussion about whether they should go to the dump or thrift shop, I volunteered to take care of them as well as the box of RC car magazines that surfaced. To relieve their suspicions, I promised not to return any of it to the shelf. With one phone call to my youngest nephew in Glennallen, I found a good home for the magazines.

After Patrick returned to Colorado, I set up the trophies on a piece of plywood and took some more photos — for documentation before getting rid of them. I enjoyed looking at all the details — the red, blue, or green color themes and two had fake black marble. What a variety of shapes and heights trimmed in gold or silver, each topped with vehicle emblems.

I wondered why it was so hard for me to let go of these particular items and finally came to the conclusion that perhaps it was be because I felt I had a part in helping him earn them. I gave up many a Friday night being a supportive parent.

I theorized that it must be similar to other supportive parents whose children played a physical sport — football, basketball, hockey, soccer, etc. I personally know more than one mother who made a T-shirt quilt for her child using old T-shirts from various sporting events. Our son also played soccer and basketball growing up, but those T-shirts were worn out years ago.

Patrick was involved with radio control car racing for about five years from 1988 to 1992. With Gary working on the North Slope, I drove Patrick to more than half of the weekly Friday night meets. And it wasn’t the kind of situation where I could just drop him off and come back and pick him up a couple hours later. His sister, Erin, and I took things to do, but we also visited with the other parents and children involved. When people spend that much time together, it was like we all were a RC car racing family of sorts.

There were two main race locations here in the Mat-Su Valley during those years, but Patrick also participated in special races at the Alaska State Fair, the Fur Rondezvous and with the Anchorage RC car club. During several all-day races in Anchorage, I occasionally dropped him off while Erin and I did other things in town. A few times we missed a crucial race, but most of the time we witnessed the nail-biting excitement.

Patrick spent hundreds of dollars over the years on this all-consuming activity and spent hundreds of hours building, painting, and modifying various cars. He was happy to receive anything RC car-related for birthdays and Christmas and spent gift money and even a small portion of Permanent Fund Dividend on vehicles, batteries and parts. Money earned from odd jobs around the house as well as working at the Alaska State Fair also supported this passion.

The end finally came when Patrick became old enough to drive and eventually bought a full-size vehicle of his own. When he bought a used Toyota pickup, the RC car racing came to a screeching halt. Of course, money was an issue and he sold all his RC car paraphernalia (except the magazines and trophies) at the garage sale we held in 1993.

Twenty-one years later, I finally called Valley Trophy last August to see if they had any suggestions about what to do with old trophies and was told that The Big Lake Lions Club might take them to repurpose for either Special Olympics or kids snowmachine races. But, since I was busy volunteering at the fair and getting my yard and gardens ready for winter, I just set the box of trophies under my worktable and forgot about them, until early January when I called the Big Lake Rec Center and left a message.

After I told Gary about my appointment to hand over Patrick’s trophies, he pried all the inscription labels off for me — the ones that state the name of the race, the year, whether 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place and the sponsor. I put all those metal labels in an envelope with the photos and tucked it in that childhood memory box that went back on the shelf. I’m all for repurposing and recycling, but this was harder than I expected.

Maraley McMichael is a longtime Mat-Su Valley writer and resident.