Joe Hornaday
Living up to his part of the bet, Mayor Gary Herbert got up early, put on his suit and came into work driving a blue Toyota Yaris Monday morning.
The semi-state match-up between the schools of Greensburg and Princeton resulted in a narrow loss for the Pirates, but before the game was played out on Saturday, Mayor Herbert and Princeton Mayor Bob Hurst made the contest a little more interesting.
The dueling mayors are both leaders of cities that are home to prominent auto manufacturers - Honda in Greensburg and Toyota in Princeton.
A challenge issued by the Princeton Daily Clarian suggested contest. If Greensburg were to win the semi-state game, Hurst would drive a Honda with a Pirates logo on it for one week, and if Princeton were to win, Herbert would be behind the wheel of a Toyota with a Tiger on it for the same duration. Mayor Hurst and Mayor Herbert hashd out the details of the bet before the game.
Herbert was a man of his word, and citizens with keen eyes may be able to spot him cruising around Greensburg in the bright blue Toyota.
“Well, at least its the Pirates’ color,” Herbert said.
He noted that he would be driving it for the duration of the work week, and then handing it back over to his friend Rick Fayette, who had let him borrow it for the purposes of the contest.
The Toyota doesn’t have a Princeton Tigers logo on it, but Herbert said if the city of Princeton didn’t get it to him, he would just have to go without.
For Herbert, the bet was a way to show support for the local boys basketball team.
“It was all in good fun,” he said.
