Hot and Stinky Garlic Festival
Written by Connie Mertz
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It was a hot and sticky August day last year when the Hot and Stinky Garlic Contest at the Keystone State Garlic & Herb Festival got under way. The contest may have been in jest, but to 10 contestants who endured eating raw garlic on the front porch of Zanolini Nursery and Country Store near Drums, Luzerne County, it was no laughing matter.
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Before the brave souls were six paper plates, each holding a different variety of garlic. The daredevils were about to discover that all garlic doesn't taste alike.
"Today, these people will be attempting to eat these varieties," Paula Willis, a festival organizer, said as she held up a plate for onlookers to view. "Let's see, there's 'German Red,' 'Spanish Roja,' 'Music,' 'German White' ..." her voice faded with the expressions on the faces of the motley group.
"Come on," she said with a giggle. "They aren't that big. How bad can they be?"
The youngest of the group was 14-year-old Abby Wasiakowski, of Mountain Top, Luzerne County, who stood alongside her mother, Barbara. Like the others, they were apprehensive, and it wouldn't have taken much for them to hightail it down the steps.
There was a husband and wife who appeared to be competing against each other.
Colleen Richards was the outspoken one while her husband stood quietly, probably wondering why he agreed to such a contest.
John Visneski, of Hunlock Creek, Luzerne County, grinned and appeared as calm as a cucumber. George Monroe, the only out-of-state competitor giving only New York as his address, paced back and forth.
Jeff Good, of Danville, Montour County, decided on a whim to compete. He liked hot and spicy foods, but had never eaten raw garlic before the contest. The remaining few stood by, waiting for the first plate to be passed.
The contest was off and running. After eating the first clove, two immediately ran down the porch steps against the onlookers taunting them to remain.
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