Last week’s image, according to reader Courtney Kaiser, showed a contest held for the World Champion fastest earthworm March 1986, in Petersburg School. This contest, the only one of its kind he knows of, happened every year for the six years Kaiser taught there.
It extended a science lesson where kids studied nematodes, dissected earthworms, and coached nightcrawlers (who each got a name and a little house to live in). Kaiser said he enjoyed handing out award plaques and the kids enjoyed it too. Most nightcrawlers came from his parent’s business but a few kids caught their own. Earthworms had to escape the basketball court’s central circle to win. 1986 champion, according to old newspaper stories, was Wiggles, coached by Jenny Stinson and DeeDee LaBrousse, who crawled 116 centimeters in five minutes, topping several days of school-wide trials. Other trials at Colonel Wright showed a worm named “Wanda” could crawl 1 foot per minute, which would take Wanda to Portland in 293 days; a finalist, Wanda lost to Wiggles in the championship race.
How about this image? It lives at Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, donated by Jim Gray. Contact Martin Gibson at 541-993-1801 or florag@gorgenews.com and we’ll publish whatever stories we hear next week!
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