Danielle Sorcher and Olivia Marcus
Features Editor and Reporter
During A period on Tuesday, May 19, an informally planned event could be heard echoing throughout the halls of the school. The source of the commotion was found in the lounge, where senior boys were having a cereal eating contest. The terms of the competition were simple: whoever finished their box of cereal first, won.
“Everyone had to bring their own cereal boxes and milk,” senior Bo McGinniss, the organizer of the event, said. “That caused some controversy though—the ‘winner’ had a smaller box size than some of the others.”
The contest winner, senior Kevin Chappell, took his win with a grain of salt. “I still feel sick,” he said. “But it was pretty funny, and I wanted to participate because I wanted to see someone puke. And I love cereal.”
Bo heard of a previous cereal eating contest and decided to plan another one.“This contest happened with the senior class of ’08. My brother was in that class and told me about it,” he said. “So my friends and I were talking about it and just decided to make it an event on Facebook, and see what happened. It was just a funny thing to do; the school days get boring.”
Mark Rearick, the cafeteria supervisor, was not too pleased about the event. “It was a total debacle. Apparently there was some history behind it, which eludes me, but boys will be boys,” he said.
“He [Mr. Rearick] said it was fine,” Bo said. “But then Joe Gallo decided to throw up, so that kind of made things crazy.”
The cleanup required some effort, due to the strewn cereal and spilled milk. But for the participants and spectators it was worth it. “I didn’t know it was happening, but I thought it was funny,” sophomore Scott Cerick said.
Some took the mess with them. “Yeah, I spilled a little bit, and now I have a battle scar on my sweatshirt,” senior Tim Robustelli said.
Onlookers found the display to be either funny or annoying. Sophomore Kalin Killinger wished to participate himself. “I was like, oh, I want to join in,” he said.
Sophomore John Santoro, however, wished that it wasn’t happening because it took up multiple tables. “I was like, this is so stupid, I just want to sit down,” he said.
Pride and respect were the awards that Kevin and the others who completed the competition received. Some of the students who participated and didn’t win were a little disappointed. Tim didn’t spite Kevin for winning, though. “It was a little disappointing, but at least I finished,” he said. “Kevin’s box seemed a little small, but there were no rules on the box size. And he finished first, so you have to give him that.”
Ultimately, the goal for some was to simply finish their cereal. “I had thirteen and a half ounces of Confetti Crunch, which is basically store-bought Fruity Pebbles,” senior Kevin Budrawich said. “It’s all about finishing. That’s all that matters. That’s why I’m still eating now even though the contest is over—you have to battle through it.”
Photos by Dolly Meckler
