Want to be Canada's top cherry spitter? Ontario town hosts national championships
It's takes special skill to master the art of cherry pit spitting.
JP Huggins would know. He's been competing for 32 years with no signs of stopping — and was once crowned Canada's national cherry spitting champion.
"It's the only time I've ever won. I've placed second and third a few times over the years, but I was pretty excited," said the 43-year-old from Blenheim, Ont., recalling the contest a decade ago. "I still brag about it."
Huggins' passion for the pit led him organize Cherry Fest, a three-day festival taking over the town of Blenheim, southeast of Chatham, from Thursday to Saturday. This year's Canadian National Cherry Pit Spit Competition will take place on Saturday afternoon.
About 100 people of all ages will be competing.
'Just let 'er rip,' says former cherry spit pit champ
Huggins joined his first cherry spit at age 12, and has been improving his skills since.
"You want that pit to be as clean as possible," he said. "That way it'll roll on the road and doesn't stick [or] hinder the roll at all."
"Then you want to curl your tongue around that cherry pick to get a tighter seal as you can, like the barrel of a gun. Just take a big breath and then just let her rip."
WATCH | Canada's cherry pit spitting championships kick off in Blenheim:
Competitors will step up to a line where a cherry pit court has been painted on the street.
"People will step up, grab a cherry and they have sixty seconds from when they put it in their mouth to chew all the meat off that pit, and then spit that pit," Huggins said.
The average men's winning spit is between 17 and 22 metres, and rolling counts as long as it stays within the lines of the spit court. He's seen them go just shy of 24 metres, he said.
The day he won, it was raining, which helped him get a good roll going, he said.
LISTEN | Talking about the national cherry spitting contest in Blenheim on July 15:
"I don't really care about winning, but I love to compete," Huggins said.
"I think that people are more competitive than they want to admit because it's spitting cherry pits. But all-in-all, it's a lot of fun. It's just a big community event."
The national title comes with more than bragging rights, he said. It will qualify the spitter for the U.S. championships held in Eau Claire, Michigan.
Cherry farming is big in Blenheim
Blenheim's love for cherries stems from the local farming community.
"We're a big, big grower," Huggins said. "Farming is huge in our community."
In fact, the cherries used in the pit spits are grown right at home.
It's not sweet or black cherries they use, but the montmorency variety grown at Delhaven Orchards in Cedar Springs, just 6 km down the road from the contest. The owners are "huge sponsors" and were the original people to launch Cherry Fest in Canada 40 years ago, he said.
At Cherry Fest, the fun doesn't stop at cherry spitting. It will also feature a cherry pie eating contest for all ages on Friday, 'cherry-oke' for cherry-lovers with a song to sing, live music, midway rides and more.
"It's just so great to see this thousands...of families come out," Huggins said.
A schedule of events for fellow cherry enthusiasts is on the Town of Blenheim's website.
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With files from Allison Devereaux