Sammie Duck has been retired for six years now after a 39-year career in the U.S. Army.
It’s probably time to take up a hobby.
Motocross racing, maybe?
Duck, 69, smiled and softly shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he said.
If he should change his mind, he does have the main equipment required for the sport.
On Wednesday at Columbus Air Force Base, the Columbus native and Crawford resident was presented with a 2016 Husqvarna FC 250 motocross motorcycle, the same motorcycle used on the professional motocross circuit.
“It’s the most powerful 250cc motocross motorcycle made,” said Donny Graham, owner of the Husqvarna dealership in Senatobia, who provided the motorcycle as part of a worldwide contest sponsored by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and Rockstar energy drink.
Duck was selected as the winner from more than 6,000 entrants world-wide. The motorcycle’s retail value is $8,399.
“I’ve won some stuff before, mainly little things,” Duck said. “The biggest thing was a $500 gift card. But I never won anything like this.”
His wife, Lillian, stood by as photographers snapped their photo Thursday.
“Wouldn’t you know it?” she said. “He’s always entering contests, it doesn’t matter what they are giving away. I was hoping he’d win a riding lawnmower. We’re sitting on about five acres there in Crawford.”
“See,” Sammie said in mock frustration. “She’s always trying to put me to work.”
Duck entered the contest in March and promptly forgot all about it.
“I enter a lot of contests,” he said. “I’m just sitting around anyway. What do I have to lose, right?”
Lillian hopes the one thing he doesn’t lose is his mind.
“Oh, no, I’m not getting on that thing,” she said. “And I’m going to do some praying if he decides to get on it, I can tell you that.”
Duck grew up in Columbus, but he and Lillian have lived in Crawford for almost 20 years now. They have eight children and 18 grandchildren, ranging in age from eight months to 26 years old.
Duck said he has never been much of a motorcycle enthusiast (nor an energy drink consumer, for that matter) and isn’t likely to become one, either.
“I’ve been on a motorcycle a time or two, maybe, but I’m not a motorcycle person at all. Still, it’s exciting any time you win something. It’s a very nice motorcycle.”
He’s not sure exactly what he will do with this tricked out, high-performance machine.
“I might sell it or maybe give it to the grandchildren,” he said.
Before he does, he said he’ll give the cycle a spin.
“We’ve got about 20 acres, so there’s plenty of land around to ride on,” he said. “So, yeah, I think I’ll have to give it a try.”
“You’re getting a helmet first,” Lillian pronounced.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.