A spittin' good time

BROWNSTOWN - There's no better way to celebrate watermelons than spitting the seeds.

Just ask 12-year-old Adam Quate of Brownstown.

"I was born to spit," he said with confidence and enthusiasm after taking third place in his age category during the annual seed-spitting contest held Saturday afternoon at MelonFest.

Sponsored by the Brownstown chapter of Tri Kappa sorority, the contest drew kids of all ages, including some adults, to see who could spit a watermelon seed the farthest.

Quate spit a distance of 15 feet.

Shawnna McCool, Tri Kappa president, said the local sorority has held the event for many years.

"We've been doing it a long time," she said. "It's a way for us to give back to the community. It's not a fundraiser, just something fun to do."

Quate's best friend, Sean Stidham, 12, of Brownstown won first place with a spit of 16 feet.

"This is my first time ever to spit seeds," he said of the contest. "It's the only time when it's OK to spit."

Five-year-old Jayden Steinkamp of Brownstown said the key to a good spit is technique and form.

"I just pulled my head back and spit," he said. "It went far."

At 21 feet, 3 inches, it was far enough to give him first place in the boys 5-7 age group.

Steinkamp said it helped that he had a good coach.

"I learned from my mom," he said, grinning.

Kirsten Acker, 10, of Brownstown said she entered the contest this year to defend her title. She placed first last year, with a spit of 23 feet.

"I just lean back and spit as far as I can," she said.

She fell short of her record distance, spitting 21 feet, 6 inches, this year. Friend Payton Phillips took first place in the girls 8-10 category with a spit of 28 feet.
For Ryan Swartwood, 10, Brownstown, the reason to enter the contest was simple.

"I just like spitting seeds, and I thought I would do good," he said.

With a distance of 17 feet, he came in second in the boys 8-10 group, behind Mitchell Banks' 18-foot spit.

"You have to curl your tongue to get it to go far," Swartwood said.

In the end, Phillip Stump of Brownstown outspit everyone with a distance of 45 feet, 9 inches, competing in the adult category.

"I didn't think I was going to be able to spit it very far at all," he said. "I just let it sit on my tongue and the air pressure just made it fly. I guess I'm just a spit off the old block. At least I'm good for something."

Watermelon steal

Seed spitting wasn't the only activity of the day during the MelonFest, held around the courthouse in Brownstown.

Tri Kappa also sponsored the watermelon steal, a crowd-pleasing event where participants run and dive into a wet and slippery pile of hay to find a watermelon and carry it back to the finish line. Sound easy? It might be if it weren't for members of the Brownstown Volunteer Fire Department spraying everyone down with fire hoses.

Terry Long of Freetown said this was his first year to take part in MelonFest activities.

When he heard about the watermelon steal, he thought it would be good to enter because it would be a way to cool down in the scorching heat.

Long wasn't disappointed as he happily got soaked while lunging back to the finish line, a wet watermelon in his grip.

"We moved from the city and we're just encouraged by all the festivals and how the community comes together," Long said of his family's participation in MelonFest. "We're big supporters of community involvement."

As for his debut in the Watermelon Steal, Long said it's something he will remember.

"I had a blast," he said.

MelonFest parade

Another highlight of the festival was the annual parade, which featured more than 80 entries this year, including the Brownstown Central High School Band of Braves, the Brownstown Chamber of Commerce, MelonFest Princess Ally Barnette of Brownstown and the Brownstown Central Middle School cross country team.

Grand marshals for the parade were Leroy and Sara Warren of Brownstown.

Judy Gilbert of Brownstown said the parade is her favorite activity of MelonFest. She has organized the parade for the past 12 years.

"I love everything about it," she said. "It gets a lot of people in the community involved, and it's just good clean family fun. The parade just seems to put everyone in a good mood."

Other activities of the day included watermelon relays, a watermelon eating contest, bed races, water ball fights, a 3-on-3 basketball tourney, a bubble gum blowing contest, Mr. Melonhead contest, watermelon carving competition, watermelon cook-off and a 5K run/walk.