Thirteen people started the annual Hands on a House competition Friday evening at the Brownwood Reunion Celebration and Sunday afternoon one winner, 56-year-old Brian Root of Mobile, Alabama, outlasted them all to win the custom built “shotgun shack.”
The contest started at 6:00 p.m. Friday with 13 contestants and ended at approximately 1:45 p.m. Sunday, a total of nearly 44 hours. The last two contestants Sunday afternoon were fighting muscle spasms and fatigue when 32-year-old Richard Delgado finally lost his balance falling to the ground ending the contest. Root also tumbled to the ground with fatigue once he knew he had won.
Root (pictured left above) takes the main prize of the shotgun shack, which he plans to sell. If a local contestant had won sponsors were planning to cover moving expenses within a 10 mile radius.
Root said that he loves a good challenge and had won a similar contest in 1982, taking home a Toyota pickup, being the last man standing with a hand on the vehicle. He stated that he works with computers, making websites and repairing computers for a living and also takes care of his elderly mother who also lives in Mobile, Alabama.
“He’s been pretty amazing. He drove straight in from Mobile for the competition,” said sponsor and Coldwell Banker owner Mark Campbell of Root’s effort. Campbell explained that Root had heard about the contest online, had followed the Hands on a House Facebook page for the past year and decided that he wanted to participate.
Most contestants in years past have been local and have brought family and friends to support them while competing; however, Root came by himself and only had the comfort of knowing his mother and brother were rooting for him back home.
During the last challenge of the weekend competition, both contestants were required to stand by the house (no leaning on the house allowed) with their heads leaning on a can of vegetables, with a can of vegetables balancing in each hand with no fingers touching the can, all while standing on one foot.
Second place went to Richard Delgado of Brownwood who was cheered on by his family including his wife Cassie, 3-year-old son Roman, parents Chris and Tracey Delgado and many other family members and friends. Delgado is an 8 ½ year veteran who served four tours of duty with the Army. He faced the contest fearlessly despite having been recently injured in an accident while working for the railroad where he lost two fingers. These injuries required surgeries, the last of which was just six weeks ago according to his family. Delgado won a Yeti cooler, valued at approximately $300 for his effort in the contest.
Third place went to Roy “Red” Lee, who earned a Cracker Barrel rocking chair. Red had been a contestant in 2013 placing 5th.
Sponsor Greg Dodds of TexasBank stated that the contestants weren’t the only winners in this contest as local food banks at Good Samaritan Ministries and St. John’s will receive over 3600 canned food items from the food drive during the contest. Key Club students from Early High School and Brownwood High School volunteered, helping with the food drive held in conjunction with Hands on a House. They manned the food drive booth, helped count the cans and loaded them into the trailers for delivery.
This year’s “shotgun shack” cost approximately $13,500 to build, according to Campbell. Key sponsors of the event included Coldwell Banker, Texas Bank Mortgage, Landmark Life Insurance, Ingram Concrete, and Kirby Cabler.
Brownwood Reunion Celebration is an annual community-wide festival that runs the third week of September each year featuring a variety of contests, events, attractions, music, and food.
Pictured above is Root during the final moments of the contest. Below are more photos of the event.
Richard Delgado working to stay in the competition during the final minutes.
Root and Delgado balancing during the last challenge of the competition as judges and the crowd watch closely.
Root and Delgado after the competition, congratulated each other for being the last two contestants in such a close and well fought battle.
Delgado with his son Roman and wife Cassie.
