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Community Corner

First Annual Pizza Contest Draws Huge Crowd

Joe's Pizza in Holbrook hosts monumental food challenge this weekend.

Rainy weather could not keep the masses from turning out for the First Annual Pizza Eating Contest sponsored by Joe's Pizza and Momo's Sports Bar in Holbrook this past weekend.

Matt Lauria won the contest by polishing off nine slices and three other competitors trailed him closely with eight slices apiece. The least amount of slices consumed was six.  Lauria, of Babylon, was congratulated by a group of friends who had come to cheer him on. He also walked away with the top prize - a $150 gift certificate to Joe's Pizza.

The day was also celebrating 25 years of Joe's Pizza. Contestants had 10 minutes to eat as many slices of pizza as possible. Phil Donofrio, the owner of Joe's, said that the current world record for pizza eating is 45 slices in 10 minutes (a record set by hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut in October 2008).

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This year there were 10 men who entered the contest, each accompanied by their own cheering squad of friends and family to cheer them on. With camera's flashing and the crowd cheering a large pie was placed in front of each of the contestants as the crowd counted down for the start of the competition.

Some of the contestants chose to stand, while some remained seating. As all of them attacked their individual pies in the same manner, soon different tactics emerged from various contestants. One chose to press two slices of pizza cheese side into each other to knock at two slices at a time.

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Others went crust first, while others simply tried to cram as much pizza as possible into their mouths at once. Many chose to dip their pizza in their water cups to soften the pizza and help it go down smoother. One particularly daring contestant stacked four slices of pizza atop of one another, dipped them in his water cup and attacked his pizza in that manner.

Joining the celebration on Saturday was the Long Island Ducks mascot Quackerjack as well as Raphael of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Face painting and a cotton candy machine also added the excitement of the event. A couple of doors down Momo's Sports Bar had tables out and music going drawing in an even larger crowd for the day's event.

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