George Mason- Burdette Park BMX Evansville, Indiana

My first bike race was at a BMX track. My dad and brother got me into racing BMX, it all started with them saying "bring a long sleeve shirt", it was a hot day, so that was a little strange and then we went to a little grassy field in South County (St. Louis) and they put a helmet on me, I rode around a dusty little dirt track, and the fastest girl in the state crashed that day, broke her arm, and then I became the fastest, and that was that. Last week I visited my brother Ward in Evansville, Indiana, we grew up racing BMX together. He's got the biking and BMX bug again, and he's trying his hardest to get me back on a BMX bike. To encourage me he took me over to see the Burdette Park BMX track there in Evansville. As teenagers we spent many dusty weekends there with mom and dad and other BMX friends racing NBL Nationals at that track.
As we drove over to the track I had memories of how the track was layed out and the first straight with the little jump, and the berms and downhill curves of the track, but when we pulled up to it, suddenly those memories of just a dirt track became fulled with people, and the faces of old friends. Standing there looking at the first straight and where we would put up the little tents and sit around in lawn chairs with all our BMX friends and watch the races the place became alive in my mind, so many wonderful memories. Funny, not a single memory was about what place I finished, or how big a trophy I won, but all my memories were about the people, and friends and families that I shared those times with. I couldn't tell you what place I finished at any of the races I raced there, but I could tell you the names of the wonderful people I remember. Whenever I remember back about Burdette Park the first name that I remember is George Mason. George was the gate starter, and I raced with his daughter Jenny. The Mason's were always nice, kind, friendly and welcoming, the type of people who would do anything for you. The track is now named for George.
As me and my brother started to leave, I took one more look at that first straight, I got very emotional, and choked up, yes, teary-eyed. I have a lot of wonderful memories from those days of BMX, thank you to all of you out there who touched my life, and taught me those life-lessons, and shared those experiences on the track, in staging, riding around, of sitting track side in our lawn chairs.