Barbara Lawlor, Central City. There is something heart-warming about scantily clothed women twisting and shaking in the middle of the street; about couples hopping onto a bed and then zooming and zig-zagging past hundreds of people lined up along the sidewalk, cheering and whistling as the bed riders hang on for dear life.

The Madame Lou Bunch Annual Bed Races are symbols of Central City’s history, its ability to hang onto what was part of its mining history. Lou Bunch ran the most popular brothel in town and was known as a generous and caring community member, always willing to help those in need.

Each year, Central City closes down its main street, fires up the barbecue grills, cools the beer, sets up a sound system, and the crowd shows up for an afternoon of fun. Last Saturday, June 20, the weather was perfect for a picnic and a party. As the band played, the 2015 infamous Sporting House Girls can-canned, jitterbugged and two-stepped with anyone who would dance with them. Age or sex didn’t matter as long the partners had a big smile and could move their feet.

Madame Sandra Hines was the Mistress of Ceremonies, introducing the performers and keeping the audience cheering their approval.

Dandy Dans also mingled with the crowd, along with a band of good and bad guys called the Wild Bunch who startled the visitors with a loud scream and gunshots. A man dragged a woman down the street while his partner in crime dangled a money bag. Before they got too far another bad guy blew off a few rounds until he was shot dead by the good guys.

Gary Huffman, one of the bad guys, has been part of the shoot ‘em up show for five years He says the group does five different skits on Saturdays, all of them different, but he’s usually the guy who gets killed and has to fall down. He says, “I was once an outlaw but now I am too old to remember what I did.”

One of the more unusual costumes of the day was an immense dress—probably about 8 feet in diameter—handmade by Terri Bosben, who has shown it off in Vegas and other Western shows.

At 3 p.m. the Bed Race Parade began, with all of the teams marching up to the race start carrying their banners and wearing their team costumes. The first team was the Central City Opera, who seemed to have a hard time making up its mind where they were going. Back and forth, sidewalk to sidewalk, the opera apprentices parted the crowd like Moses parting the Red Sea. They eventually made it to the turnaround and had more control going uphill. Although they weren’t the fastest—in fact, they came in last—they won the Best Costume, the Maiden Voyage, with 67 years of youth, and the Worst in Bed honors, coming in with the slowest time.

The First Place winner was Johnny Z’s, for the third year in a row, coming in with a time of 66.9 seconds; The Second Place winner was the Famous Bonanza and EZ Street Casino with a time of 81.5 seconds, and the Third Place Winner went to Reserve Casino, which had a time of 81.5 seconds. The Reserve Casino also won the Old Farts in Bed Award for having an accumulated age of 134 years.

Winners of the Miners and Madam Ball:

Sporting House Girl of the Year: Asian Delite

Madam of the Year: Feathers Galore

Dandy Dan of the Year: Gentlemen Jeremy.