Coming up next Saturday is southwest Michigan’s premier athletic event — the International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship at Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm in Eau Claire. Farm co-owner Monica Teichman tells WSJM News this is the 46th year for the competition. Spitters compete for distance and glory, and they’re grouped into several classes. Everyone who comes out on top in each division will then be pitted against each other in the final round, along with past winners. Teichman says it’s amazing how far some people can spit a pit.
“They have their own techniques, they have the way they move their body or their arms, the way they curl their tongue or they blow out their cheeks, or whatever it is that works for them, and you know, it works,” Teichman said.
Last year’s winner was Rick Krause of Arizona with a spit distance of nearly 42 feet. The all-time record belongs to Brian “Young Gun” Krause with a spit of 93 feet and six inches in 2003. The registrations begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 6. Everyone is welcome to take part or to come out and watch the action.
Photo from the Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm Facebook page.
