On January 11, 2005, the USLMRA lost a dear friend: Dave Hertel of Crivitz, Wisconsin. A 6-year racing veteran, winner of numerous trophies, and National Technical Inspector, Dave and his wife Yolie were fixtures at our races from coast to coast and even into Canada. Dave Hertel was a friend to all and loved, admired and respected by the entire lawn mower racing community. Please enjoy these photos of Dave Hertel, #303.

I just returned from Crivitz, Wisconsin, for Dave Hertel's funeral, and what  an emotional day it was. Daybreak was around five degrees and sunny as Ken  Jones and his 9 year-old daughter Katie and I pulled into Crivitz around 10:00  am, soon joined by Mike Miller and then Scott Nelson from Wisconsin. We  visited with Yolie and Yolie's daughter Trina, met Dave's daughter Dawn and looked  at the three photo galleries of Dave adorning the funeral home. Dave was buried in his racing jacket, his trophies on display around the  casket and FLOWERS, FLOWERS, FLOWERS! From Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Texas,  Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia from across the nation  FLOWERS. Dave's racing helmet and gloves were on display as was the blue towel he  always soaked in cold water in order to keep cool on the race track.  Soon other brethren of the sod began to arrive: Julie, Steve and Mike  Bertrand from Green Bay; Dave Smith from New Jersey, Don Gienger and his daughter  Sammy - 11 hour drive from North Dakota; Stacey, George, Brandon, Jacob and  Rebecca Herrin, 14 hours from Tennessee - freezing!; Troy Larson and his parents  from Prentice, Wisconsin; Tony Lewis from Illinois, Art Neavill from Michigan.  We were all there for Dave and Yolie - and to represent the entire lawn mower  racing community. After the funeral service and a hearty meal at the church next door, we drove  over to Hertel's Hideaway on Left Foot Lake Road, the 40-acre Hertel  Homestead. We checked out Dave's 3 garages, 30 odd mowers and his impressive display  of trophies. I even sat in Dave's chair at his desk.we all told stories of  Dave. Then, as the sun began to set across the Hertel's field, we warmed up our  cars and began to head back home. The canaries in the Hertel's living room  chirped, their beloved beagle looked around wondering what was going on, I gave  Yolie one more hug, tapped on Dave's 303 mower one more time, and Ken and Katie  Jones and I got in the car and headed back home. Dave, may your grass always be green may you always keep the rubber side down  and may your flags always be checkered Bruce Kaufman USLMRA President January 17, 2005 Northbrook, Illinois

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