Fair Enough
Fairs are a celebration of food and farming. On Sunday, I witnessed fanatics compete in the Indiana State Fair's sweet corn eating contest. I must say, the whole idea is a little corny.
Ok, that was lame, but that gives you a feel for the level of entertainment happening at the Great Indiana State Fair. During my 30 years of covering fairs, I have learned that some of the best fair entertainment involves watching people humiliate themselves in various eating contests. This was the first time I had ever witnessed what was described as "a corn war."
I took some photographs as six people devoured corn-on-the-cob right in front of the coliseum. One contestant rotated the cob while using her teeth to saw off the kernels. There wasn't much chewing involved. It reminded me of a sawmill. Cue the sound of a sawmill buzzing through a log.
One contestant, Billy Raymer of Westfield, Ind., stood on his feet while eating. He closed his eyes and had an awful expression the whole time. I read that as intensity. He was "all in," as they say.
All of these folks seemed intense. Mary Rudolph came all the way from Dayton, Ohio to eat Indiana sweet corn. She wore a corn-themed outfit that she made herself.
The goal of this contest was to eat as much sweet corn as possible in five minutes. However, I noticed that a lot of kernels ended up on the table and on the stage. Apparently, that's OK. At the end, contestants are judged solely by how many clean ears remain on their plate.
During the final minute, things turned ugly. One lady, Sarah Karrell of Indianapolis, had eaten her fill, but she had several friends in the crowd who were cheering her on.
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah," they shouted.
They even wore T-shirts with an image of Sarah eating corn. I'm sure there is an interesting story behind this, but I digress.
Sarah just couldn't eat any more corn, but her friends were egging her on. Sarah tried her best, but her mouth was overflowing with the yellow stuff. I think she began to laugh at one point. Imagine laughing with a mouthful of sweet corn!
Finally, the horn sounded and the contestants put down their, uh, ears.
Sarah's plate was a mess. The announcer counted four clean ears and said, "She gave corn love a whole new meaning." She walked away with a little less dignity and a smile.
I didn't stay around to see who was crowned the champion. This was just a semi-final round. In Indiana, there's no shortage of sweet corn in August.