Posted on 08/17/2017 6:31:04 PM PDT by SJackson
Hundreds of people of all ages have taken part in the Florence County Fair's cricket spitting contest over the past 10 years.
FLORENCE — If cotton candy, homemade pies and maple syrup aren’t enough to tickle your taste buds, the Florence County Fair offers something even more mouthwatering — dead crickets.
Over the past 10 years, hundreds of fairgoers, young and old alike, have set aside their tasty treats for a few minutes so they could join the ranks of cricket spitters.
The wildly popular event is precisely as it sounds: You strategically select a juicy dead cricket off a silver platter, stick it in your mouth and — ptooey! — spit it as far as humanly possible.
“I was laughing so hard at the whole idea of it that it took me a while to actually get it out and spit it. It was a blast,” said Diane Theis of Florence, who participated in the event for the first time last year.
She spit her cricket 17 feet, 4 inches, which earned bragging rights over her husband, Mike, who was a few inches behind. But the family crown went to Diane’s father, Stan Nowak of Florence, whose cricket soared more than 18 feet.
“All three of us are definitely looking forward to doing it again this year,” Diane Theis said. “I’ve already let my dad know I’m challenging his first-place standing. He says, ‘Bring it on!’ ”
The Florence County Fair will be held Aug. 25-27 at Florence County Fair Park in Florence. The free cricket-spitting event, which drew about 200 spitters and even more spectators last year, will be held Aug. 26; registration starts at 6 p.m. and spitting commences at 6:30 p.m.
Fairgoers can thank Jessica Klumpp of Florence for bringing the event to town.
Klumpp was attending the Jefferson County Fair in 2007 and noticed cricket spitting on the schedule.
“I couldn’t believe how many people it drew, so I gave it a try,” Klumpp said.
She enjoyed it so much that she worked with Florence County Fair board members to add it to their schedule that same summer.
About 100 people participated in the inaugural cricket-spitting event in Florence, and that number has doubled over the past decade.
“People are interested because it’s so different than other things you might see at a fair,” Klumpp said. “I think some people might say, ‘That’s gross.’ But it’s mostly the psychological thought of putting a dead cricket in your mouth. Once you get past that, you’re fine. My niece was 7 years old last year and finally did it.”
Klumpp said participants range in age from 4 to 85, and they’re divided into age groups. The farthest winning distances usually go well beyond 30 feet.
Crickets are donated from a pet store in nearby Iron Mountain, Mich., and they’re frozen prior to the event. Each participant selects a cricket off a silver platter and, within 10 seconds of placing it in their mouth, gets one chance to spit the cricket intact. Medals are awarded to age-group winners.
“This year my strategy is to pick the biggest cricket, because I think I’ll be able to launch it farther,” Diane Theis said. “I just love the whole concept of it. It’s a lot of fun, especially when you have family and friends there laughing and egging you on.”
Klumpp, whose personal best is 18 feet, said it’s funny to watch someone spit crickets for the first time.
“Usually little girls, they want to do it but they don’t want to touch it,” she said. “But in the end, anybody can do it. It’s taken me a while but I’ve finally got everyone on the fair board to do it. The more people we can get cricket spitting, the better it’ll be.”
If you go
What: Florence County Fair.
When: Aug. 25-27.
“Frozen” means it’s dried-out. Roll it around in your mouth for nine seconds, and you’re raised your odds. ;)
Florence where?
Maybe it’s one of those events where you literally have to be present at in order to experience the ‘fun’ of placing a dead cricket in your mouth.
Wisconsin. Up north by the Michigan border.
That’s one way to get them started, but I’ll pass.
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