By Staff
EAU CLAIRE – The 34th International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship takes place Saturday, July 7, at Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, a you-pick and retail fruit business located between Eau Claire and Indian Lake on Eureka Road.
The competition summons the world's top performers in the e-pit-ome of health and sport – cherry pit spitting.
Reader's Digest recognized Eau Claire as the "Cherry Pit Spitting Capital of the World" in its July 2003 issue.
The plump outer flesh of the red tart cherry, an excellent source of disease-fighting anti-oxidants, anthocyanins and phytonutrients, gives way to a smooth, center orb perfectly suited for deep breathing and physical exercise.
These factors combined give cherry pit spitting an added healthy edge.
"And," adds Dowagiac graduate Herb Teichman, founder of the sport and president of Tree-Mendus Fruit Inc., "the contest is a global demonstration that healthy eating, deep breathing and physical exercise can be accomplished simultaneously, in public, with only a minimal loss of dignity."
Rick "Pellet Gun" Krause of Yuba City, Ariz., is the current champion (2006, 67 feet, 5 inches) as well as a 12-time international champion and former Guinness world record holder (1988, 72 feet, 7 1/2 inches).
He is the patriarch of the three-generation Krause clan cherry pit spitting dynasty. In 1996 he married five-time female champ Marlene "Machine Gun" Krause on the court.
His son, Brian "Young Gun" Krause of Dimondale, is the current world record holder (2003, 93 feet, 6 1/2 inches) and the father of youth division winners Braden and Cole. Brian is a six-time international champion himself.
The only other active spitter at their level is Canadian "Gentleman Joe" Lessard Sr., of Blenheim, Ontario, the Canadian national champion and three-time international champion.
Rising stars include:
Bart Pierce of Holland, who took second place in the 2006 championship with 44 feet, 10 inches.
Keith Roush of Hartford, who finished third in 2006 with 43 feet, 8 inches.
Alex Haimbaugh of Niles, the 2006 women's champion with 41 feet at age 13. She is the youngest ever to sit on the women's throne and qualified for the male-dominated championship, in which she placed seventh at 36 feet, 6 inches. She was the youth 9-12 champ in both 2004 and 2005.
The competition begins with qualification rounds from 10 a.m. to noon. Top qualifiers then compete in the afternoon.