TRAVERSE CITY -- Stephanie Grammens-Wildman had never participated in the Cherry Pit Spit Contest, but she's practiced for it her entire life.
"We have a cabin with a deck and we always try to hit the pine trees," she said. "So I have good aim."
The practice sure paid off. In the first of five days of competition, Grammens-Wildman of Chicago placed second with a 44-foot 3-inch spit. But she was almost 10 feet short of the winner, Melissa Beer of Grove City, Ohio, who spit her cherry pit 52 feet 9 inches.
Conditions at the Open Space along West Bay weren't ideal, Grammens-Wildman said.
"I really didn't know what to expect," she said. "The wind is really a factor."
Auburn resident Gary Witzgallo was the winner on the men's side with a 66-foot spit. But he is an old pro by now, having won two years ago with a 68-foot spit.
"It's all about the rolled tongue," he said. "And the bigger the pit the better."
Witzgallo's son, Cody, 9, is already planning on being "just as good as my dad" at pit-spitting. He competed in the kid's cherry pit-spitting contest, which has no rankings, and got a 21-foot spit.
Joan Boss of Traverse City has helped oversee the event for the past three years. She said the contest is always a festival favorite.
"It's something locals and tourists can enjoy," Boss said. "It really is one of the most fun events we have at the Cherry Festival."
Over the past three years, she's noticed a pattern to those who are winning.
"People who run or play wind instruments always do very well," she said. "Sometimes dumb luck works, too."
More pit-spitting heats will be held today and Friday, leading up to Saturday, when the top three contestants from each day are invited back to compete in the final competition for a grand prize.
Witzgallo said there is a simple reason why he participates in the cherry pit spit every year.
"I eat way too many cherries," he said. "And there's nothing better to do than spit them out."
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