Logan Brant willing to sacrifice truck for charity

MEDINA — Medina resident Logan Brant has long enjoyed watching the rough truck and motocross competitions at the Medina County Fair. The 2015 Highland graduate and his father, Glenn, decided the time was right for him to throw his hat in the ring. "It's a fun gig," Logan said. "It gets the crowd going. It's really fun when you get to see the trucks wreck or break in half." On Tuesday, the rough truck kicked off the grandstand events at this year's 180th edition of the fair after a severe thunderstorm canceled the motocross Monday. Logan, 28, ran a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado decorated with plastic skeletons. The decorations were advertisements for the Medina Odd Fellows' annual Halloween party that raises money for the Special Olympics. Glenn acquired the truck from a friend, Bob Mihalko, and used it on jobs for Medina Roofing, which he owns. With a rusting frame, Dad gave his son explicit instructions on how he wanted the night to end. "I said, 'If you can break this thing in half in the middle of the fairgrounds with all our advertisements on it, that's the best $10 in advertising I could ever spend," Glenn told his son of the entry fee. "We loaded it up with skeletons (from last year's Halloween party). "The truck hasn't run in two years, so that was the hardest part." Logan was fully on board with the idea of wrecking the truck for the Odd Fellows, an organization started by H.G. Blake that raises money for 40 causes. In addition to the Halloween party, the Old Fellows give Christmas shopping trips to underprivileged children. "I kept thinking, how can we advertise our Halloween party?" Glenn said. "Now that I'm not president, I've got a little more time, and I asked (Logan) how he feels about driving the truck. He said, 'What the heck?'" The Halloween party will be held Oct. 25 at Common Ground with a $5 entry fee, as raffles, silent auctions and other games will raise money for the Special Olympics. Tickets can be purchased at medinaoddfellows.org. The Brants have high hopes of seeing the celebration continue to grow. "Everybody's got the same fundraisers, so I came up with this Halloween party three years ago," Glenn Brant said. "It took off. The first year, we had 200 people, which was cool. Last year, we had 510. This year, I want to get 1,000." Glenn is still active in the Odd Fellows, serving as a trustee after his president term ended. Logan is now vice president. A number of the Odd Fellows and four Special Olympians were in the crowd to support, as were Logan's mother, grandmother, girlfriend Danielle and daughter Kylie, 4. Despite this being the first time competing, Logan said that he has a number of fond memories growing up in the summer at the fair. "We used to come here in middle school at 1, 2 o'clock, and our parents wouldn't pick us up until 9 or 10 when it closed," he said. "We'd be here all day, hang out, get food and ride all of the rides for a little bit." He also said he wasn't nervous before his dad, who ran motocross in the late 1970s and early 1980s, offered a slight correction. "You said you're afraid you're going to go the wrong direction," Glenn said. "We'll yeah, they make the track so you have to do a circle and then do it again. I feel like I could be the one that goes backwards," Logan said. "Just as long as I don't do that, I'll be fine." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.