By Doug Graham

news@joplinglobe.com

HEPLER, Kan. — The only rules that apply are Hepler rules.

That’s the motto for the Hillbilly Games, a set of off-the-wall physical challenges held every Fourth of July in the farm town of Hepler, Kan., population 150.

Two teams pushed four-wheelers through a slalom course made of tall cardboard tubes. Their objective: Weave through the tubes and throw toilet seats horseshoe-style onto the poles at each end.

Doug Harris, mayor of Hepler and “Head Hillbilly,” said he came up with the idea for the toilet seat slalom just this year.

“I try to think about what we waste out on the farm and then think about what we can do with it,” Harris said.

The cardboard tubes once held netting used for baling hay, the toilet seats came from a nursing home.

More examples of farmyard recycling: There was a “chariot race” in which children rode in old cattle feeding tubs that were dragged with lariats; and an obstacle course in which contestants climbed bales of hay.

This year’s grand finale came in the form of a “hillbilly bath,” in which contestants had to grab for bars of soap hidden in a pool filled with murky brown pond water.

Harris cited family and friends as a reason for putting on the games every year.

“It’s good times, it’s camaraderie, togetherness ... if you take it too serious, we really don’t want you here.”

The winning team, named “The Ericas,” was made up of Hillbilly Games veterans, including Hepler native Matt Baker. Baker plays every year.

“This is hillbilly Christmas,” said Baker, still dripping from the bath after being presented with his prize money.

Max Forsyth came from Pennsylvania with his family just for Hepler’s Independence Day celebration. He is a descendant of the Hepler family who founded the town more than a century ago.