10-year-old Boy Campaigns Against DWI

10-year-old Boy Campaigns Against DWI

Race Car's His Vehicle

PHOTO BY ELEANOR MASON Patrick Burt of Lunenburg stands by his mini-race car that has slogans warning about the dangers of drunken driving.

By ELEANOR MASON
News Correspondent

WOODSTOCK NH ­ Patrick Burt of Lunenburg is 10 years old and enjoys driving his mini-race car around the Woodstock N.H. Motor Sports Park during the intermissions of the adult races.

He is also concerned about the dangers of drunken driving and has covered the sides and front of his mini-race car with warnings about drunken driving.

"Just Say No to Drugs and Alcohol," "Don't Drink and Drive," "Dial 1-888-Get A DWI" are only a few of the slogans Patrick has painted in bright letters on his race car. The mini-car with the colorful slogans has caught the attention of both his Lunenburg neighbors and spectators at the track. Recently the young driver has been autographing photos of himself standing by the car as he calls attention to the anti-drinking slogans.

Patrick visited some young patients at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon on Friday and talked to them about his race car and how he started with his favorite hobbies, cars and racing. He passed out pictures of the mini-car that boasts a 51/2 Honda engine and can speed around the track at 35 mph.

"We spent several hours there going from one room to another," said Patrick's mom, Tammy Burt.

She noticed the youngsters enjoyed listening and talking to her son about the car and the racing.

"He really seemed to brighten their day," she remarked.

The anti-drunken driving slogans seemed especially important to a 17-year-old girl recovering from an automobile accident.

Visiting young patients at Dartmouth-Hitchcock came about as a result of Patrick accompanying his mother as she traveled back and forth for cancer treatments during the past several years. She is thankful to be celebrating her fifth year of cancer survival.

During a recent checkup, Tammy decided to ask if they could visit some of the patients in the children's ward to give them some of the many Beanie babies she has collected over the years and received as gifts while she was ill. When Patrick brought some of his mini-race car pictures along to pass out, they became as popular as the Beanies. Whether it is tiny Beanies or mini-race cars, the impact on the fight against illness or drunken driving by small efforts often produces larger than expected results.