\\Not many people know this, but I used to be a competitive eater. I wasn\u2019t one of those 50-hot-dogs-in-10-minutes \u201cprofessional\u201d eaters you see on TV on July 4th. I was more of a local-contest-here-and-there kind of guy. Now that I\u2019m a father, I\u2019m semiretired from the sport, but I\u2019ll be coming out of retirement later this year to do something I\u2019ve always wanted to do: a watermelon eating contest.<\/p>\n
The event will take place at Kipona, an end-of-summer arts festival held right here in my neck of the woods (Harrisburg, PA) on September 2. The contest is being hosted by an organization called Fruitopian Artistry<\/span>. The following day, the fruit artists of Fruitopian Artistry will attempt to set a world record for the tallest fruit sculpture. Here\u2019s how they describe it on their website<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the first week of September 2012, we will begin the process of constructing the 40-foot-tall watermelon \u201ctower.\u201d This melon monstrosity will consist of over 65 individually hand carved watermelons and well over 1,200 green apples, all stretching toward the sky!! Of course in true Fruitopian Artistry fashion, there will be a mild fireworks display upon completion of the tower.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n A 40-foot-tall watermelon tower with fireworks? I\u2019m more excited about that than I am about the watermelon eating contest! Either way, I\u2019ll be sure to take lots of pictures of both events and write about them here on the blog in September. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \\Not many people know this, but I used to be a competitive eater. I wasn\u2019t one of those 50-hot-dogs-in-10-minutes \u201cprofessional\u201d eaters you see on TV on July 4th. I was more of a local-contest-here-and-there kind of guy. Now that I\u2019m a father, I\u2019m semiretired from the sport, but I\u2019ll be coming out of retirement later […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-general","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n