Men, mud and mayhem in the Mahoning Valley

Two new documentaries made in the Mahoning Valley go behind the scenes of separate-but-related subcultures fueled by motors, mud and beer.

“Mud Trucks and Beer” looks at the phenomenon that is Truck Night at Yankee Lake, and “Country Crush” is about the combine-demolition derby that takes place each year at the Columbiana County Fair.

Although many would dismissively file these off-road sports under “redneck fun,” the filmmakers see through that. Instead, they respectfully and insightfully capture the camaraderie, dedication and know-how of the crews.

‘MUD TRUCKS AND BEER’

John A. Jurko II is the filmmaker behind “Mud Trucks and Beer.” He said that though the popular impression of the mud-bog scene might be accurate, the stereotype of the participants is all wrong. Jurko aims to dispel those negative connotations.

“Many of the people that participate in mudding do identify with the term ‘redneck’ and do enjoy drinking beer,” he said. “[But] they do not view ‘redneck’ as a negative. It’s a way for them to identify with a group of people that enjoy the same things. It’s part of what they do for a release.

“The problem arises when [an outsider] assumes that this is all that they do — drink and play in mud — and that they have a lower moral and social status because of this. ... They have families that they care about and love. They have interests outside of mud, trucks and beer. And they are good, hard-working individuals, just like everyone else.”

Jurko’s family owns Yankee Lake, and he has spent a lot of time at Truck Night, the Friday night gathering of mud pits, rock crawls and cold beer. Being a film-school graduate, it was natural for him to make a documentary about it.

Jurko spent about a year on the project, filming at participants’ garages and at Truck Night.

“Mud Trucks and Beer” will be released Dec. 7, but Jurko will have a presale Sept. 20-26. Go to trucknight.com/dvd for more information and to watch a short trailer of the film.

On a related note, Mud Life Magazine will be at Truck Night at Yankee Lake on Friday and Saturday. The Miss Mud Life Daisy Duke contest will be take place, and the winner will be featured in the next issue. There also will be a Show and Shine truck competition, with the winner getting a spread in the magazine.

‘COUNTRY CRUSH’

The other documentary, “Country Crush,” was made by Molly Merryman, a sociology professor at Kent State University. It was shown earlier this month on Western Reserve PBS-TV.

The combine derby is a locally cultivated sport that has been a staple at the Columbiana County Fair since 1992. The drivers crash the massive harvesters into one another until only one machine is still moving. Metal is shredded, tires are punctured, and ravaged motors are left trailing plumes of smoke.

County fair-board member Don Humphreys serves as the derby announcer. “I think these machines are so gigantic and so expensive when a farmer buys them new that the thought of somebody intentionally smashing one into another one strikes some people — I’d say most people — as lunacy,” he said.

Like “Mud Trucks,” Merryman’s documentary also takes a loving, even amusing, look at the men — mostly farmers — who compete in the odd- looking machines. The hour-long film culminates in the championship round of a combine derby.

Merryman, who lives on a farm south of Alliance, said the Columbiana combine derby is the first in Ohio. Other fairs have since started their own, she said, but Columbiana’s is still by far the largest.

“Country Crush” will be repeated at intervals over the next two years on the Western Reserve PBS channels.