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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 67 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
No guts, no glory at Langley’s
Soup Box Derby
Mini burglar hits Neil’s Clover Patch By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record
were rewarded with a foggy morning that quickly burned away by the start of the races at about 10:30 a.m. Needing little help from Mother Nature were Elizabeth and Greg Osenbach, owners of the Whidbey Island Winery. The winemakers emerged as the 2014 Soup Box Derby champions over the course of seven heats that lasted two hours. Their first race may have been the closest. Facing off against former professional racer Phil Simon in the Big Sister car, the wine barrel tricycle
Neil’s Clover Patch Cafe became the latest victim in a string of commercial burglaries on South Whidbey this past weekend. The Bayview eatery was broken into sometime late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning. Access was gained through a tiny window and the thieves got away with $200 to $300 in loose change. But, holding to their namesake, luck was with the Clover Patch and a suspect in the burglary was taken into custody Sunday morning. Christopher Nielsen, 29, was found passed out in a stolen vehicle in Coupeville, and a search of the car on Monday revealed money bags with the restaurant’s name on the side. Nielsen is currently being held in the Island County Jail on unrelated charges, but the arresting officer, Lt. Mike Hawley with the Island County Sheriff’s Office, said more are likely to follow. Clover Patch owner Neil Colburn said the entire affair was a bit strange. The thief got in by squeezing through an 18-inch-wide, metalscreened window in a food pantry. It was located behind an ice machine, which the burglar pushed aside to gain access to the rest of the building. Colburn marveled how someone could have wiggled through the tiny space. Like the fable of Cinderella’s shoe, he said only the smallest of thieves could have fit. “He’s gotta weigh only 70 pounds,” Colburn said.
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Ben Watanabe / The Record
Greg Osenbach and Elizabeth Osenbach, owners of Whidbey Island Winery, barrel down First Street in a race against Phil Simon in the Big Sister car during the Soup Box Derby on Aug. 17.
Whidbey Island Winery barrels into Soup Box title By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Looking like Racer’s Row, the US Bank parking lot in Langley was filled with 17 race cars and dozens of admiring spectators Sunday morning. Instead of sleek Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari or BMW F-1 cars, the Village by the Sea was overrun with soup box derby cars seemingly made of junk and spare parts—a long held tradition in the Soup Box Derby. The name is a play on words
in honor of a now-long closed restaurant on First Street near the race’s finish line. People lined the sidewalk and curbs on either side from the Inn at Langley to beyond the finish line at the intersection of Anthes Avenue. “Great turnout with racers, spectators,” said Tucker Stevens, a member of the Langley Community Club that organizes the annual race. “The famous Rolling Thunder with Colin Campbell and Bob Bowling made its first entry. Unfortunately it was too heavy, but it looked great.” After a rainout last year when the race was scheduled for mid-September, organizers set it for mid-August hoping for better weather. They