On certain Saturday mornings in Hastings, it is not difficult to figure out what is happening in the parking lot next to McDonald’s along Highway 55.
There are athletes with hoses, buckets and towels, cars lined up for a wash, music playing, plenty of water flying in directions that have very little to do with cleaning vehicles, and usually a good amount of laughter mixed in.
It has become a familiar summer sight, and more importantly, a productive one for Hastings High School athletic programs.
For years, Raider teams have been invited to use the Farmers Insurance agency parking lot at 1350 S. Frontage Road for car wash fundraisers. The tradition began under longtime local agent Shane Lanning, and it continues today under Michael Thoreson, who took over the agency in 2025.
Calling it a matter of simply allowing teams to use the parking lot, however, does not really tell the whole story.
The agency essentially provides the car wash.
The agency provides just about everything the teams need to make the fundraiser work, including hoses, connectors, sprayers, water, soap, sponges, towels and buckets. The athletes bring the energy, the manpower and, usually, plenty of laughter as they spend the morning washing cars and raising money for their programs.The athletes supply the labor, enthusiasm and, if you spend a little time watching them, plenty of laughs.
That arrangement has worked remarkably well.
The car washes have become a regular fundraising option for Raider athletic programs, with individual events commonly bringing in $1,000 or more for participating teams. Those dollars can help programs cover equipment, apparel, travel and other expenses that come with a high school sports season.
The fundraisers also offer something that is harder to measure in dollars.
A few hours spent washing cars gives teammates time together outside of practices and competition. Incoming athletes mingle with returning players, parents help coordinate the operation, coaches occasionally make appearances, and Raider supporters get a chance to meet the students they will be watching throughout the coming season.
There is also something refreshingly straightforward about the fundraiser.
Nobody needs another box of candy sitting on the kitchen counter, there is no catalog to take home and no complicated sales pitch. Bring a dirty vehicle, let a group of Raider athletes attack it with soap and water, make a donation to their program, and everybody leaves a little better off than when they arrived.
Probably cleaner, too.
The tradition has now survived a change in ownership at the insurance agency.
Lanning built a long history of supporting Hastings athletics through the car washes and other involvement in the community. When Thoreson took over the Farmers Insurance agency, the name on the business changed, but this particular tradition did not.
That continuation is worth recognizing.
Small community traditions often depend on someone deciding they are worth the extra effort. Opening a business parking lot for several Saturdays each year, supplying the water and equipment, and accepting the inevitable disruption that comes with dozens of teenagers washing cars is not something an insurance agency has to do.
Lanning chose to do it for years, and Thoreson has chosen to keep doing it.
Now another group of Raider teams is preparing to take their turn with the buckets and hoses.
Hastings Girls Soccer kicked things off Saturday, Aug. 8, taking the first turn this year with the buckets and hoses.
The Raider car wash schedule continues Saturday, Aug. 15, when Hastings Girls Volleyball takes over the lot from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Hastings Girls Tennis follows Saturday, Aug. 22, also from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Hastings Cross Country is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by Hastings Girls Swim and Dive Saturday, Sept. 19, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
All of the car washes will be held at the Michael Thoreson Insurance Agency, Farmers Insurance, 1350 S. Frontage Road in Hastings, next to McDonald’s.
More teams could still join the schedule, so Raider fans should keep an eye on the social media pages of their favorite Hastings programs for additional announcements.
For Hastings residents, it is an easy opportunity to support local athletes while taking care of a chore most vehicles probably need anyway.
For the teams, three hours of work can provide a meaningful boost to their season.
For the agency, it is a tradition built around providing something seemingly simple, a parking lot, some equipment and a few hours of water.
After years of Raider athletes filling that parking lot with soap, laughter and an occasionally poorly aimed garden hose, it has become something more. It has become one of those little Hastings traditions that quietly does a lot of good.