Dan's Papers - June 20, 2008 - The Great Strawberry Festival In Mattituck

The 54th Annual Strawberry Festival
Included One Very Interesting Contest This Year

This weekend, the Mattituck Lions Club once again achieved the perfect marriage of fresh summer fruit and the old fashioned country fair at their 54th annual Strawberry Festival. From the multitude of vendors, to the displays of hand-made art and kid friendly crafts, to the delicious shortcake and daiquiris, the best of the North Fork was represented in full force this weekend.

"I love coming to the Strawberry Festival," said Mia McCombe of Baiting Hollow. "I grew up on the North Fork and my family and I come every year." Many other patrons of the Festival expressed a similar sentiment about the celebration's status as an annual event for families to enjoy. You can be sure the Festival was full of dads this past Sunday as well. "I got my dad strawberry shortcake even though we always have pie at my house!" joked McCombe.

This year there was a star studded aspect of the Strawberry Festival that provided some dads with a singular Father's Day memory. On Sunday, the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) sent a representative to oversee the second annual strawberry shortcake eating contest and crown the World Champion shortcake eater. First and second place eaters received $1,000 and $500 respectively, as well as the copious bragging rights (and inevitable indigestion) that accompany the title.

Overseeing the event was world renowned eater and Long Island native Ed "Cookie" Jarvis who holds the titles of World Pizza Eating Champ, World Cannoli Eating Champ and World Zeppole Eating Champ, just to name a few. The competitors weren't just innocent, unsuspecting patrons either. Champion eaters, or "gustatory gladiators" as the emcee christened them, came from all over the country to Mattituck's strawberry fields to frantically shovel as many one pound plates of shortcake into their gaping mouths as quickly as possible in only 8 minutes. Eaters of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds assembled in the light drizzle on that fateful Father's Day to try their hands at shortcake. A colorful assembly of eaters known as the "four horsemen of the esophagus" (another clever anecdote from the IFOCE emcee) were the main contenders for the prize: the defending shortcake champ Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, Suffolk county legend Eric "Badlands" Booker, New York City native Tim "Eater X" Janus, and "Crazy Legs" Conti, a window washer, nude model and competitive eating commentator for Spike TV.

Last year, Deep Dish Bertoletti ate 15 and a quarter pounds of shortcake in 8 minutes. This year, sporting a new mohawk, Deep Dish took home the title again but didn't break his record. After inhaling an amazing four pounds in a little over a minute, the reigning champ consumed a respectable 14 and one half pounds of shortcake, followed in second place by Eater X's respectable 12 pound showing. Gustatory gladiators Crazy Legs Conti and Badlands Booker, who came out of retirement for the shortcake competition, nabbed third and fourth place, eating 9 and one half and 9 and a quarter pounds respectively.

The crowd that gathered for the amazing display of gluttony felt the shortcake eating competition was a perfect addition to a beloved North Fork tradition. "I loved it," gushed Joe Magee of Riverhead. "If I could, I would have been up there along side them!" Kids and adults alike appreciated the display, as Melanie Davis, a mother of two, pointed out. "My nine year old son's jaw dropped just as far as mine. It's just not something you see everyday."

If you missed the festival this year, don't fear. The Strawberry Festival, and presumably Cookie Jarvis and crew, will be back next year. One staple of the festival, however, is in jeopardy. Members of the Lions Club said Southold Town is trying to do away with the fireworks displays that conclude the Festival on Friday and Saturday night. But the fireworks won't go quietly as patrons were encouraged to sign petitions to save the fireworks and many obliged. Fireworks and gustatory gladiators aside, the Strawberry Festival and its namesake are a North Fork staple that have endured for over half a century, and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I can't wait for next year.