Clerk of Court Barry Baker waves during the Lawn Mower Race.

LIVE OAK, Fla. — Greg Scott and TJ Vickers may have taken victory laps with the checkered flag during The Arc North Florida’s 21st annual Lawn Mower Race, but they were far from the only winners.

While Scott and the Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners won the team race and Vickers won the individual race for Hannah’s Homies, Lisa Perry with The Arc, said victory spread far wider than just those few people.

“We’re all winners when we all get together like that,” Perry said. “It’s for (our clients). All of our events is for them.

“That’s what we’re all here for.”

Those clients and helping raise funds for The Arc, a non-profit agency that provides advocacy and services to individuals with an intellectual and/or physical disability, is what has attracted Don Hale, the District 1 commissioner, to the race. Hale said he has personally known families that have needed The Arc’s help.

“That’s my attraction to it, and the fact that they really do a lot, and it’s not just Suwannee County but The Arc reaches out to several other counties as well,” Hale said. “That’s just a big deal for me. You don’t have a lot of organizations like them.”

There’s also a personal connection for Vickers, who has raced previous years for Hannah’s Homies as well.

“I just think it’s a great opportunity for a great cause,” Vickers said of taking part in the race. “My mother was a special needs teacher for years here in Suwannee County, so that’s very near and dear to my heart.

“It’s just always a great experience to get a chance to go out there and see some familiar faces and have some fun with it as well.”

And in addition to delivering much-needed funds to The Arc, the annual race also delivers plenty of fun for drivers and onlookers as well. Some of the fun comes from the various pit stops, which included wrapping up a roll of quarters, attaching nuts and washers to a bolt while wearing lineman’s gloves, assembling a paper clip chain, drawing a house, hammering nails into a block of wood and folding a T-shirt.

Other parts of the fun comes from the competitive nature of the participants, whether it’s in the racing of the lawnmowers, which were all provided by John’s Lawn Equipment, which hosted the event, or at the pit stops.

Not only did racers cut each other off with the lawnmowers, or at times, bump into each other, but Sheriff Sam St. John, competing with the Suwannee County Elected Officials team, had a nearly-folded T-shirt swiped out of his hands at one point.

“The competitiveness was top-notch,” Perry said laughing. “It was top level.

“We had some that were being real sneaky about a couple things at the pit stops. The cutting off and stuff is great, but some of the other stuff was borderline too much.

“But they came to win.”

A laughing St. John added: “It’s just a lot of fun.”

It was also fun for Vickers and the county commission team that included Len Stapleton and Jimmy Norris in addition to Hale and Scott.

That team lapped the field in the championship race against Walt’s Live Oak Ford and the Suwannee County Elected Officials.

“That was a lot of fun,” Hale said about the lopsided win. “Everybody wants to win and have fun at the same time.”