My goal of participating in a seed-spitting contest in 2012 is coming together nicely. I’ve got a practice session under my belt and a host event for the contest – the Cumberland Ag Expo in August.
The folks at the Cumberland Ag Expo asked me to put together the rules and other details for the contest. Since I’ve never organized a watermelon seed-spitting contest, I made a phone call to some folks who definitely know a thing or two about such events, the organizers of the World Championship Seed Spitting Contest at the Luling Watermelon Thump in Luling, Texas.
The Watermelon Thump team was very nice and very helpful. With their help, I’ve been able to figure out the rules for the contest (it’s pretty simple), the dimensions of the playing surface (a 15 by 60 foot “spit-way”) and even which seeds to use (from the Black Diamond watermelon, because they’re the largest seeds). Since we don’t have access to Black Diamond watermelons here in Pennsylvania, the National Watermelon Promotion Board has agreed to track down a few hundred seeds and send them my way for the contest.
I’ve decided to divide the competition into four categories: Men (16+), Women (16+), Youth (8-15 years), and Children (7 years and under). The winners in each category will receive a cool “first place” medal like the one pictured above.
I’ve never won a medal before, so I’m really hoping that my seed-spitting skills are good enough to win me one in August!