Nisswa Chamber of Commerce Holds Weekly Turtle Races During Summer

Next week, thousands of racing fans will fill the Brainerd International Raceway for the 43rd annual NHRA Nationals, where hot rods will reach speeds of up to 330 mph. But until then, racing fans can get their fix just a few miles up the road with races of a different speed.

“It’s Turtle Race Day, which is one of the best days in Nisswa,” stated Nisswa Chamber of Commerce President Kalie Jay. “It’s the best day of the week for sure. For 62 years now, on Wednesdays, everyone comes to town and we just have some good old-fashioned fun.”

The Nisswa Chamber of Commerce holds weekly turtle races in the streets of downtown Nisswa, and each week hundreds of people come out to catch a glimpse of the racing reptiles.

“Earlier this summer, we had a family with four generations here, and the grandma had actually started racing in 1963 in Nisswa, so that was really cool,” Jay said. “They come together every year to the Turtle Races, so to see so many ages all coming and enjoying something together is really fun,” said Jay.

Participants pay $5 to get assigned a turtle and urge their animals on with buckets of water. Proceeds go into the care of the turtles, as well as to the Nisswa Chamber of Commerce.

“You’re not going to find a lot of fun things for the whole family for $5,” added Jay. “The nonprofit we partner with, you know, we obviously compensate them for what they’re doing, and then it goes back into the chamber for us to continue to promote Nisswa and continue to have turtle races and things like that.”

The town has adopted the tradition with open arms, anointing the area with the nickname “Turtle Town” and appointing a mayor of the make-believe municipality.

“It’s so much fun being around the little people and the grandparents and the adults and all the brothers and the sisters, and the excitement that’s over a turtle race,” said Richard “Watson” Dreissig, the mayor of “Turtle Town.” “It’s just honest fun. And I thoroughly enjoy that.”

As he looks on over the races, the mayor has just one message for anyone that may attend the event.

“As mayor of ‘Turtle Town,’ I say, I order you all to have fun and smile,” added Dreissig with a grin of his own.

The season’s final Turtle Race will happen next Wednesday, August 13 behind the Nisswa Chamber of Commerce. Registration opens at one, with racing action kicking off at two.