Monster trucks find a home in Belmont

BELMONT — The inaugural Monster Mash monster truck and mud bogging show, held last weekend at the Belknap County 4-H Fairgrounds, was a roaring success, according to organizers. Discussions are already underway about bringing the show back in the spring and fall of next year.

“I can honestly tell you, from my standpoint, it went great. It went very well,” said Jeff Bursey, who operates an excavation business in Pittsfield and moonlights as a monster truck operator. Bursey organized the Monster Mash, also built the track and mud pit, was the announcer and drove his “Towasaurus Rex” during the “Monster Truck Freestyle” portion of the event.

About 700 tickets were sold to spectators, and 24 trucks registered to try their luck in passing through the mud pit, which was five feet deep and had two-and-a-half feet of mud in it.

Those numbers were small, said Bursey, but good for a first-year event that came together with little planning time. And they raised enough to cover costs and deliver a profit to the 4-H Fairgrounds Association, which will use the proceeds to improve the grounds.

“This one was a good old-fashioned, down-home mud bog – very similar to the ones I went to as a kid 30-some years ago,” Bursey said. He’s been to events in all of the 48 contiguous United States, to Mexico and Canada and even South America. This was his 44th event this year.

With the Monster Mash, Bursey wanted something apart from the high-production arena-type shows.

“My goal was, I wanted a drama-free, fun time. I want people to leave having fun. I feel confident that that’s what we achieved,” he said.

Kathy DeNutte, a board member on the 4-H Fairgrounds Association, agreed.

“For a first time event it was excellent,” she said. The organization had a little more than a month to put the event together. “If we have more time to plan, it will only get better,” she said. The association is expected to vote next week on whether to continue with another such event, and she would be surprised if the vote is negative.

“All our directors that were there were pleased with the numbers. It was a really good event. Now that we’ve gotten the first one under our belt, the next one will be easier,” she said. She has already had local businesses, and the town, approach her and ask to partner with the next monster truck show.

Bursey said that new monster truck events tend to double in attendance for their first several years, so the Monster Mash crowd could soon be measured in the tens of thousands.

The association’s ultimate goal, though, is not profits but exposure. DeNutte said the objective of the Monster Mash was to bring people to the fairgrounds in the hopes that they will come back for the 4-H fair. DeNutte said the event met that goal. There were many families with young children, several elderly couples, and people in between.

“It was great, very family-oriented,” she said. “We need more family-friendly events in town.”