The Finley Fair's Pie-Eating Showdown
A local pie-eating contest goes off the rails when a contestant tries to drink his pie like beer.
The story, cleaned up
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The Finley Fair proved not only a financial success but also a dandy fun maker. The crowd wasn't very large but there wasn't a grouch or a sore head in the hall. The best fun of the evening was the men's pie eating contest. A half dozen able-bodied huskies each started in with half a pie and the first one to get it down and whistle was to win the prize. At the signal they all leaned forward and dived into the middle of their pies, except Slim Pastoris. He threw his head back and simply poured it down like beer and it was gone before anybody else got a start. It looked like a walk-away but poor Slim had a terrible time whistling loud enough for the judges to hear him. Geo. Schnell entered the race and drew booby prize for he was still eating pie half an hour after everyone else had quit.
“He threw his head back and simply poured it down like beer and it was gone before anybody else got a start.”
Community fairs in Finley and Kennewick have evolved from impromptu pie-eating contests and traveling performers into modern agricultural celebrations, yet the spirit of local volunteer-driven event planning remains the backbone of the region's social life.
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