It was all smiles, messy faces and full bellies Sunday as many came out to Boston Pizza to support Flipside Youth Centre with a spaghetti eating contest.
Youth and adult participants raised money to see who could eat a plate of spaghetti - prepared by the cooks at Boston Pizza - in the fastest time.
And, a plate of spaghetti is a lot to eat in just over a minute, just ask Deshon Lennard, youth service coordinator.
Lennard was one of four adult males who competed in the contests, and he said it didn’t go quite as he had planned.
“It didn’t go the way I had hoped. I think I came in last place,” Lennard laughed. “My spaghetti was a lot hotter than I thought it was and it made it difficult to eat.”
Though he came in last in his category, Lennard said he had a lot of fun, as did all of the other participants.
Not only was it fun but the event raised a nice chunk of change for the youth centre.
Those who participated in the contest raised money through pledges, and brought in roughly $1,300, according to Lennard.
“We had a lot of kids who are members of Flipside participate. I was really proud to see them out there raising money for the program,” Lennard said.
The money raised through the contest will go to fund programs at Flipside Youth Centre. Lennard said the funds will go towards regular, everyday programs, like the after school program, and not special events.
“Our goal was to target friends and members of Flipside and to raise money for our program,” Lennard said. “I think we did very well.”
This was the first year Flipside Youth Centre participated in the spaghetti eating contest, though this wasn’t the first year for the contest.
Sylvan Lake Boston Pizza hold the contest each year to raise money for local charities. Earlier this year they approached Flipside Youth Centre about partnering for the contest.
There was supposed to be four categories for the event, but no teenagers registered to participate.
The winners in each category are:
Youth: Olivia Reid
Adult Women: Alex Swayn, an employee at Boston Pizza who also won the contest last year.
Adult Male: Kolt Bell.
Bell also raised the most money for Flipside Youth Centre.