News-Record.com

Scoop would like to thank our very special friend Taft Wireback, a long-time N&R investigative reporter, for remembering this nugget during a morning conversation about leaf raking.

It seems that back in the day (the late 1990s), the City of Greensboro held leaf-raking contests. The winners (four in the city) each received a $400 John Deere mower, donated by North State Tractor.

From an article in 1999:

"Last year's winners included stockbroker Tom Phillips, a former Greensboro council member who was elected last week to another term after four years out of city politics. Phillips, a self-proclaimed "yard person," says he never expected to win when he sent in a photo of his leaves. His was among 1,000 entries.

"'I had the whole front of my yard covered with bags of leaves,' Phillips says. ' ... I took a picture of it and sent it in. I was totally shocked when they called me.'

"This fall, Phillips is back out in the yard with his new mower, but he won't be entering the contest.

"'I think they'd deliberately exclude me this year, since I've been elected to the council,' he says."

One question: Does the mower still run?