How sweet it is
| 10 Sep 2015 | 10:32
Photos by Ed Bailey Michael Golabek of Chicago, Ill., left, holds up his hand as he wins the onion eating contest. He ate the raw onion in 1 minute 29 seconds as Michael Sweeton, Warwick Town Supervisor, looks down to see how much onion he has left. GolabekþÄôs wife is a doctor in New York City.
Pokolenia Dancers of Pine Island perform.
Orchestra leader Jimmy Sturr, left, Michael Golabek of Chicago, Ill., holding his award for winning the eight annual Pine Island ChamberþÄôs onion-eating contest, which was presented by Chamber Director Russell Kowal while Vegetable Growers President Paul Ruskiewicz awards the $100 prize check.
PINE ISLAND — Chicago native Michael Golabek has won the eight annual Pine Island Chamber of Commerce onion-eating contest last Sunday, consuming an eight ounce onion in one minute twenty nine seconds.
"It was one of the sweetest onions I ever ate," Golabek, one of seven contestants, said afterwards.
Perhaps that opinion was not shared by all other participants, Chamber Director Russell Kowal acknowledged.
But he pointed out that the chamber holds the contest at Jimmy Sturr’s Onion Fest at the PLAV in Pine Island to remind the residents that agriculture is still an important part of the region's heritage.