By Richard Kerns
rkerns@newstribune.info
Tribune Staff Writer

LUKE — The town of Luke is hoping to offer a friendlier reception for tri-athletes who will roll through town next Sunday as part of a grueling race that begins and ends at Deep Creek Lake.
About 300 participants are expected for the 2008 SavageMan Triathlon, which begins with a 1.2 mile swim, followed by a 56-mile bicycle race and finally a 13-mile run. Proceeds from the race benefit the fight against melanoma skin cancer.
Kicking off after the athletes finish the swim in Deep Creek, the bike race courses down Spring Lick Road, where the trail connects to Savage River Road, which the riders will follow to Md. 135. The race then passes through Luke, before turning up Big Savage Mountain, to return to Garrett County.
Last year truck traffic through Luke proved to be troublesome, with some drivers reluctant to yield to the racers.
At the Luke Town Council meeting on Tuesday, council member Janet Bryan suggested that Luke Police Officer J.A. Swann park his cruiser at one end of town, and then position himself elsewhere along the course to provide a greater police presence, encouraging motorists to drive cautiously for the athletes. “We’ve got to slow things down for them,” she said.
Bryan encouraged Swann to use walkie-talkies and work with other town employees to monitor the riders’ movement through Luke, which should occur between 9-11 a.m. next Sunday.
“That’s the good thing about it, being Sunday there should be very few trucks,” Swann said. “We’ll do what we can with them out there.”
A highlight of the bike race occurs a few miles beyond Luke at the infamous four-block “Westernport Wall,” which features an average grade of 25 percent, including a 31-percent grade, one-block cobble-stoned section long ago closed to vehicular traffic. Riders who make it all the way up without putting a foot down have their names engraved in brick to commemorate the feat. Residents

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residents and others turn out to cheer on the riders through the grueling course.
In other business at Tuesday’s Luke Town Council meeting, council members said it will probably be spring before old guardrails are replaced on the steep road leading above the town hall. The town had hoped to swap out bent and rusted guardrails with others throughout town, but workers found that very few rails are available for such use, with most others in town also showing the effects of age.
The town was quoted a price of $28.50 per foot for new guardrails, which Mayor Joseph LaRue said would not be a major expense, given the limited need. “That price sounds high, but we’re not going to do 5 or 6 miles,” he said. “We’re only going to replace a few of them.”
LaRue said it was likely the town’s two public works employees could not complete the work before winter. “You’ve only got so many hours in a day, so many days in a week,” he said.
Council members also discussed replacing the town’s aging  U.S. flags after resident Charles Smith noted that they are worn and faded. Town officials said the flags are at least 10 years old.
“They’ve been washed so many times, they don’t fly right,” Smith said.
LaRue said the town may be able to work through the American Legion or members of the local legislative delegation to get a discount on replacing the 40-plus flags the town now flies on holidays. Smith also suggested buying some Maryland flags for the town’s display.
“I think that would be better than solid American flags,” he said.
In other business, the town council opted not to buy a postage machine to automatically post letters and packages, after Treasurer Sherry McIntyre said it wasn’t needed.
“Considering we have a post office in Luke, I think we’re good,” council member Bryan said.
The council also voted to contribute $5 toward the cost of sending a local member of the Maryland Municipal League to Annapolis during the legislative session. The expense is divided among Western Maryland’s municipalities, based on population. “That’s right cheap for the town,” LaRue said.
The next meeting of the Luke Town Council will be Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 5 p.m.