Fort Myers Watermelon Fest seeks seed spitters
Want to know the secret to being a seed-spitting champ?
One word: Viscosity.
You can’t say “spitting” without the word “spit.” And according to seed-spitting gold medalist Brent Ray, that’s one of the key ingredients you'll need to get some real distance with a watermelon seed.
“You’ve got to take the seed and swish it around in your mouth,” says Ray, 57, of Estero. “I don’t know if it makes it shoot out faster or what.”
One thing he does know is this: It works.
Ray has won the seed-spitting competition at Fleamasters Fleamarket's Watermelon Festival for five years in a row, and he aims to do it again next weekend. He’s fired a watermelon seed a whopping 56 feet, 8 inches — far from the world record of 75 feet, 2 inches, set at the De Leon Peach and Melon Festival in Texas. But not too shabby at all.
Ray offers some other tips to wanna-be contenders: Pick the plumpest, heaviest seeds from the bucket. More weight equals more velocity. And make sure the pointy end is aimed out of your mouth for maximum aerodynamics.
“And then you just hurl back and let ‘em fly!” he says and laughs.
But there’s more than just seed-spitting happening at next weekend’s Watermelon Fest. The sixth annual event is packed with three days of watermelon fun: Live bands, a watermelon speed-eating contest, games, a stilt walker and — of course —lots and lots of watermelon to eat or take home.
All those melons come from Southwest Florida farmers. “We make sure that it’s all local,” says Fleamasters marketing director Linda Steele.
Steele doesn’t know the exact amount of watermelons brought into the annual fest, but she says it’s a lot. “We bring it in by the truckload. It’s literally a truckload.”
The event attracts about 15,000 people over the course of the three-day weekend, Steele says. That’s about 5,000 more than the usual number for May.
“It’s kind of old-style fun,” Steele says. “I think people are hungry for nostalgia.”
Ray says he enjoys attending the festival every year. And it’s a bonus that he’s won five years in a row. His prizes have included gold medals and jewelry from a Fleamasters' vendor.
Watermelon champs apparently run in the Ray family. Brent Ray’s daughter, Caitlyn Ray, has seen her own share of watermelon glory in the annual fest.
“We’re very competitive,” her father says.
Caitlyn, 20, has won the watermelon speed-eating contest four out of the last five years. She's downed a quarter of a watermelon in a matter of minutes.
She didn’t feel gross afterward, either, she says. Watermelon is mostly water, anyway. “You feel a little sticky around the mouth,” she says. “But other than that, you’re fine.”
Caitlyn can’t give a solid reason for why she decided to take part in that very first speed-eating contest five years ago. It just sort of happened.
“I was there at the flea market,” she says, “and it was there. And I said, ‘All right. I might as well do it!’”
And you can do it, too. Anyone can take part in the speed-eating and seed-spitting contests. The contests are divided into three age groups: 10 years old and younger, 10 to 16, and 17 and older.
Prizes include jewelry, gift certificates and medals, but Fleamasters is sweetening the pot this year: Anyone who beats the 1995 record set by Jason Schayot of Texas wins $500 in cash, too. One dollar buys you three seeds and three chances.
“We just want to make it a little more fun,” Steele says. “And I think it would be really cool if someone in Southwest Florida beat Texas!”
Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells (News-Press) (Facebook) or @charlesrunnells (Twitter)
If you go
What: Sixth-annual Watermelon Festival
Where: Fleamasters Fleamarket, 3135 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Fort Myers
When: Opens Friday, May 27. Hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Admission: Free
Info: 334-7001 or fleamall.com