Bare hands are the way to go

By Kevin Dye

Staff Writer

Reagan Gargac, center, decided that eating with her hands was the best strategy to be successful during the Ice Cream Eating Contest at the West Jefferson Ox Roast on Sunday.

The action was fast and frozen at the West Jefferson Ox Roast on Sunday afternoon as the festival kicked off a new contest for those who like their desserts chilled.

The first Ox Roast Ice Cream contest was held at the grandstand and dozens of people turned out to see if they could be the first one to down their container of ice cream that was supplied by sponsor Purple Ox Ice Cream.

Organizers decided that so many had turned out for the very first contest that they divided the contest into a boys and girls division. There was not an age limit for the contest, while each division had one adult who had entered. Each adult out-performed their younger contestants in each division.

Each contestant was given a container of vanilla ice cream and a spoon. On the count of three, everyone dug in as fast as they could. It proved to be a bigger challenge than many thought as the cold ice cream quickly slowed the pace of the group. Individuals then began to look for a more efficient way of picking up speed, like Reagan Gargac who ditched her spoon in favor of her bare hands.

“It was hard to get your spoon in the hard ice cream,” Reagan said. “So, I just grabbed it with my hands after awhile. Actually, I was all ready for this contest because my friends and I do this at school at lunch time in the cafeteria.”

Regan said she found the choice of vanilla ice cream to be a little bland for her palate and wished there had been a different flavor of ice cream. “I could have done a lot better if it wasn’t vanilla,” Reagan said. “I love chocolate ice cream. If it had been chocolate, I would have been a lot faster.”

Reagan’s younger brother, Brandon, also abandoned his spoon to use his hands, but he also finished out of the top-two finishers in the event.

However, Brandon seemed a little worse for the wear after finishing his ice cream.

“I used my hands because the spoon was too slow,” Brandon said. “Now I feel like I’m about to barf.”

For Brandon’s sake (and his parents) let’s hope he rode the midway rides before the contest.