If your dream of playing professional sports has come and gone, maybe we can help keep the flame alive with competitive cherry pit spitting. One of the biggest events in this arena was the International Cherry Pit-Spitting Championship, which was held every year at Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm in Eau Claire, Michigan until 2019 (more on that later).
The Cherry-Spitting Championship began at the Teichman family farm in 1974 and was rapidly considered to be the official international competition of this unique talent. Herb Teichman originally started the event to not only promote his farm, but the region’s tart cherry harvest as well.
There are other similar events held around the globe, but this particular cherry pit-spitting competition drew attention not only here in the United States, but all around the world.
The Rules of the Cherry Pit-Spitting Championship
The competition itself is pretty much what you envision – whoever can spit a cherry pit the farthest wins. While most of us would have gotten a stern look from Mom or a gentle smack on the back of the head from Dad for actually spitting out a cherry pit in public, it’s not only encouraged at this event, but the skill set is widely admired and celebrated.
What we found most interesting are a few of the very specific and rigidly enforced rules of the event.
First, there can be no other objects in one’s mouth that would aid in the expelling of the pit into the air for distance measurement. What could something like that actually be? A tiny air cannon like those that launch T-shirts at ball games, perhaps?
Second, cherries must be properly chilled between 55-60 degrees (wouldn’t they get warmer in the mouth?), and hands must be below the height of one’s shoulders to prevent cheek popping. I should note that this would be an ideal competition for my four-year-old grandson, as he has maintained incredible cheeks since he was born.
Lastly, if a pit is swallowed, the pit is disqualified. I would certainly think this is obvious, because that particular pit would then definitely be launched from another direction, one we’re sure no one would care to see at a family event.
Speaking of families, the competitors are divided up into divisions by age and gender, and shockingly, it took three years for the separate women’s division to come into play in 1977 (would love to have been a fly on the wall for those discussions).
So what does all the sweat and training that goes into this skill set earn the winner? For starters, bragging rights as “the international champ,” in addition to prizes from local businesses.
As you can imagine, the list of cherry pit-spitting champions throughout the years is an illustrious one. In the world of cherry pit spitting, the Krause family are legends. Rick “Pellet Gun” Krause held the record up until 1993, with a spit of 72 feet, 7 1/2 inches. His son, Brian “Young Gun” Krause, broke his father’s North American record in 1998 and ultimately claimed the Guinness World Record in 2004 for longest cherry pit spit, with a staggering distance of 93 feet, 6 1/2 inches. Amazingly, on that same day, Brian Krause also spit a cherry stone over 110 feet.
The End of the Cherry Pit-Spitting Championship in Michigan
The event, at least in its form at Tree-Mendus Farm, ceased after 2019’s competition, which follow the passing of Teichman, who died earlier that year at the age of 88. With the next generation of the family involved in other endeavors, there was no one to not only take over the event, but to maintain the farm as a business as well. So, with a heavy heart, the family ended 91 years of operation on December 31st, 2019.
This also ended the Cherry Pit-Spitting Championship in its original form, but no matter where it’s ultimately held moving forward, the important thing is that the competition continues to live on in some form.
