LoudounExtra.com
Strategy Helps Boy, 11, Win Watermelon Title
By Scott Den Herder
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Eleven-year-old Jarrett Bramhall had a lot of confidence going into the watermelon-eating contest Friday at the Loudoun County Fair. This was the kid who had dominated the pie-eating contest just a few days ago, leaving the bitter taste of defeat in the mouths of his competitors, some of whom had returned for another shot at a title.
He also loves watermelon. So much so that if you happen to stop inside a grocery store in the area, there's a chance you might find him standing with his mom in the produce section, begging for one.
As the contest prepared to start, nine kids under the age of 11 shuffled up to a table lined with watermelon slices. Some contestants just gazed down at the melon while others sized up the competition.
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Watermelon-Eating Contest
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Lyndsay Evans, 11, watches on as Jarrett Bramhall, 11, pulls ahead of the pack in a watermelon-eating contest at the Loudoun County Fair on Friday. He later won the event. (Scott Den Herder)
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Grace Sanderson, 10, holds her Mini Rex rabbit, winner of the Grand Champion award at the Loudoun County Fair on Friday. (Scott Den Herder)
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More than 30 people participated in the watermelon-eating contest held Friday at the Loudoun County Fair. (Scott Den Herder)
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Jarrett Bramhall stands victorious after vanquishing his opponents in the watermelon-eating contest Friday at the Loudoun County Fair. (Scott Den Herder)
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Contestants in the watermelon-eating contest battle it out at the Loudoun County Fair on Friday. (Scott Den Herder)
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Contestants in the watermelon-eating contest battle it out at the Loudoun County Fair on Friday. (Scott Den Herder)
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Eric Phillips, 12, takes a break from the watermelon-eating contest at the Loudoun County Fair on Friday after getting sick from eating too fast. (Scott Den Herder)
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Grand Champion winner Amanda Virts, 19, prepares her Boer Goat for the Livestock Sale at the Loudoun County Fair on Friday. The auction generates thousands of dollars for 4-H members every year. (Scott Den Herder)
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More than 30 people competed Friday in the first watermelon-eating competition held at the Loudoun County Fair. (Scott Den Herder)
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The objective: Finish a fourth of a watermelon before anyone else.
Stocky and noticeably larger than the other competitors, Bramhall wore a plain T-shirt, scarred with countless stains of various colors and intensities. The mysterious markings on his shirt might as well have translated as, "I mean business."
In the few, silent seconds before the competition, the kids focused on the task the lay before them. And with a word from the announcer, it began.
Several kids plowed into the melon with their faces, bulldozing the fruit straight to the rind, watermelon debris dropping; juice both streaming and squirting.
The slurps and gulps occasionally were drowned out by the sound of spectators prodding a relative or buddy to eat faster.
Lyndsay Evans, 11, stood in the unfortunate spot next to Bramhall. She lost focus several times during the event; her concentration broken apparently by getting squirted with juice as Bramhall ravaged a melon brutally just inches from her face.
It ended almost as quickly as it began.
Bramhall, just as he had predicted, walked away from the table as the winner, claiming victory for the second time this week. He explained his strategy to a few curious spectators after the event.
"It's easy if you just dig your teeth in and drop it on the plate,” he said. “It makes it go faster because you got this bitten-off watermelon on the plate that's just loose."
He looked for loopholes, too. He wasn't afraid to exploit them, either.
"You just stick it on your face," he said about the pie-eating competition. "They never said you had to eat what's on your face."
For some kids, the end of the competition did not mean it was over.
Hunched over behind a shed, 12-year-old Eric Phillips had made a graceful retreat from the event. He had lost the competition, unable to finish his melon, and now struggled not to lose what he had eaten.
"If it was a smaller melon, I would have been done," he moaned.
He vowed to return next year and compete again, primarily motivated by the opportunity for free food and not for victory.
The winner of the event received a coupon for MaggieMoo's Ice Cream.
The competition is new to the fair this year, following in the tradition of the contests for eating corn and pies, organizer Terry Corle said. The weeklong 72nd Annual Loudoun County Fair ends Saturday. Organizers expect about 20,000 people to visit the fair this year.
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