VICTORY IS SWEET
Fairgoers delight in ice cream-eating contest
The event raised $280 for the fair’s new steer barn.
LISBON — The new ice cream-eating contest will be back next year.
“I think it’s a keeper,” said Julie Herron, the county’s Cooperative Extension Office agent, who dreamed up the idea.
The fair, established in 1845, for some reason never had an ice cream-eating contest.
But a shower Wednesday at the fairgrounds helped push people inside for the contest at the Coliseum, Herron said. There were enough entries in the two youth categories to require heats.
Cameron Brinker, 18, the treasurer of the Junior Fair, was the master of ceremonies.
Contestants sat at tables. Each had a plate. A square of wrapped ice cream was placed on each plate, and then several more squares were placed in a line in front of each contestant, depending on how many they were supposed to eat. Speed, not volume, was the key.
Early on, Brinker called for the winners of the youth heats to get ready to eat again.
But Less Bardo urged Brinker to give the early winners a chance to rest before diving into the cool vanilla again.
Brinker took his advice.
The husky Bardo took part in the men’s competition and even brought a mug of coffee to help wash down the ice cream.
Youths and the women were eating two or three squares.
When the men sat down to eat, Brinker announced a sudden change in the rules.
“Let’s give them five,” he said.
Bardo was back in the men’s pack and only got to a second slice before giving away the rest.
Size — large or small — didn’t seem to have a direct impact on whether a contestant could pack it away.
Bardo, however, won an award for being the slowest gentleman eater.
Herron said the goal was not to make people sick. One small boy in a second heat wisely decided he had enough and got up from the table.
In an ice cream runoff, youths were told they would have to eat without using their hands. They were also told if they had to move their plates, they had to use their faces.
Nathan Birkhimer of Hanoverton, who entered the class for older youths, had the presence of mind to wear a modified garbage bag to prevent ice cream splashes.
Brinker thanked everyone for helping with the event.
People had to pay $5 to compete. The event raised $280 that will go to help pay for the new steer barn.
When the adult men were called to compete, several men on the list did not appear. One was Owen Unkefer, the president of the fair board.
Herron explained, “They had to go home and milk the cows.”
wilkinson@vindy.com