Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low near 65F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low near 65F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

John Koziol/Union Leader Correspondent Competitors take part in the inaugural New Hampshire Belt Sander Derby, which was held Wednesday at Middleton Building Supply in Meredith.

Competitors take part in the inaugural New Hampshire Belt Sander Derby, which was held Wednesday at Middleton Building Supply in Meredith.

John Koziol/Union Leader Correspondent Competitors take part in the inaugural New Hampshire Belt Sander Derby, which was held Wednesday at Middleton Building Supply in Meredith.

John Koziol/Union Leader Correspondent Competitors take part in the inaugural New Hampshire Belt Sander Derby, which was held Wednesday at Middleton Building Supply in Meredith.

Competitors take part in the inaugural New Hampshire Belt Sander Derby, which was held Wednesday at Middleton Building Supply in Meredith.

John Koziol/Union Leader Correspondent Competitors take part in the inaugural New Hampshire Belt Sander Derby, which was held Wednesday at Middleton Building Supply in Meredith.

MEREDITH — New Hampshire’s already deep and rich history of unusual competitions added a new chapter Wednesday when the New Hampshire Home Builders Association hosted the inaugural Belt Sander Derby.

Normally used to smooth wood, the electric sanders — some ostentatiously bedecked, some utilitarianly plain — were pitted against each other two at a time in a slotted, 42-foot long race track that was temporarily erected for the occasion in a building at Middleton Building Supply.

Competitors vied to have either the fastest or slowest sander, for which they won a trophy — the LaValley-Middleton Cup — and a $500 cash prize, which they could donate to the charity or non-profit of their choice.

When the sawdust settled, two Meredith-based teams came out on top. Carpenters with An Attitude from Scott Compton Builders won the fast class, while Bob Glassett, representing Pella Windows & Doors of Meredith, “won” the slow class.

Scott Compton said the secret to his team’s victory was the outstanding engineering of Noah Smith “who bypassed the trigger so it’s instant power” when Tim Lang, a state representative from Sanbornton, turned the juice on for the racers.

“We absolutely pulverized the competition,” said Compton, who thanked his wife Laurie, and the large team of employees who made the win possible.

“It’s an awesome event,” Compton said of the sander derby, while acknowledging that “we need to make some changes” for the next one.

Glassett downplayed his “slow” honors, saying his sander was slow because “I wanted all the attention.” He agreed with Compton that the belt sander derby was a blast and that it should return to Meredith next year as a statewide event.

The Lakes Region Builders and Remodelers Association held an area-wide belt sander derby at Middleton Building Supply in 2019, said Glassett, but it was canceled in 2020 and 2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While relatively new to New Hampshire, belt sander races are not new in the U.S. and videos from the early 2010s can be found on YouTube.

When asked, Glassett said the belt-sander derby was both “good” and “ridiculous,” two words which in recent years have also been used to describe the Red Parka Steakhouse and Pub’s World Championship Downhill Tricycle Race at Bear Peak (in hiatus) and the annual Mt. Washington Valley Mud Bowl in North Conway.

“We created the Belt Sander Derby to inject a little fun and to let builders and contractors exhale a little bit,” explained Matt Mayberry, the executive director of the NH Homebuilders Association. He said that the two groups are feeling the pressures of a booming market which has many of them, like Compton Builders, “booked out up to two years.”

Mayberry said the NH Belt Sander Derby will come back to Meredith in 2023.

In addition to the “fast” and “slow” awards, prizes were presented Wednesday for best decorated, best team name, team spirit and for “worst in show.”

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