The thrill of victory and the agony of da meat: Crowder wins first Frank Fest eating competition

Jul. 4—Ten and a half hot dogs.

That's how many it took for Larry Gene Crowder, Jr., to consume Thursday afternoon to win the first-ever Frank Fest July 4 hot dog eating contest, held on the Judicial Center Plaza.

Hot dog eating contests have become a significant part of the Independence Day experience in America in recent year's, thanks to the Nathan's Famous International contest in New York, which has produced notable names like Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi. Now, Crowder has become Somerset's own version of those legends of competitive eating.

"It's awesome; I'm full," said Crowder, of the Shopville area. He noted that he'd practiced ahead of time for the event, eating as many at 15 hot dogs at a time, and has competed in other food challenges, though this was his first centered around franks.

"The other ones were like, I ate a five-pound hamburger in 15 minutes (and) I ate like eight pounds of breakfast in 30 minutes," he said. "So it (was) kind of me vs. me; this year, I actually get to compete with someone else."

What makes Crowder so good at competitive eating? "I'm hungry," he responded. "Tall, dark, and hungry."

Other contestants were Martin Abney, Chris Roberts — representing the "606" area code with his hat — Joshua Slade Collins, Josh Hancock — who wore a shirt with a hot dog print — sole female contestant Kylie Killen, Johnathan Baker, and John Alexander.

Each had to consume as many hot dogs in 10 minutes as possible — both the frank itself and the bun.

Before the competition, each contestant was asked how many hot dogs he or she were looking to consume. While some gave ambitious answers in the 20s, Crowder simply said "six," meaning he substantially outperformed his prediction in his winning effort.

For his efforts, Crowder was awarded with a trophy and gift cards.

The contest technically had winner categories for both men and women, so Killen claimed the latter's first place prize, even though she was the only woman at the table — organizer Anthony Cox is hoping to get more females in the field next year.

"It was fun, for sure," said Killen, who took a more casual pace to her strategy, eating three hot dogs and spending the last several minutes watching the action around her. "I just wanted to do it for the experience."

There was also a kids' competition before the adults took their places, with smaller Coney hot dogs provided by Gold Star Chili, which was won by Gavin Wolfe. He ate four Coneys, coming in first in the field of three youngsters.

Cox, owner of downtown business Birdies and Barrels, conceived of Frank Fest and hopes it can become a yearly event. In addition to the contest, there were activities and inflatables, as well as a BBQ station by co-sponsor and organizer ProTrade Hardware & BBQ Supply, selling pulled pork and grilled hot dogs available with a wide range of sauces from the store.

"I think it turned out pretty well," said Cox of the first Frank Fest, standing out in the sun with temperatures around 90 degrees — though the contestants enjoyed the shade of a tent set-up. "A little hot and humid, but we got a lot of kids out here, and that's what I definitely wanted to see."

Cox said the names of the winners will be inscribed on the trophies so they can be passed down each year to the next winner with a running history on the award of who's claimed it. That's just part of Cox's vision for the future of Frank Fest.

"We hope to grow it and grow it and grow it," he said. "(We want) more inflatables, more vendors here next year, and hopefully we can close off more of downtown and show the city that there is a good time to be had."

For ProTrade, it was a chance to show off some of their BBQ equipment, something the store specializes in, cooking the beef dogs and pork on a Traeger grill on a blocked-off South Maple Street

"It was so much fun, and we're already talking about ideas to make it better each year," said ProTrade's Jenn Bates, who owns the business along with husband Luke, who served as emcee for the event Thursday. And don't think the Traeger is just good for hot dogs and the like, she noted — "The Treager can cook anything. Especially if you have time to slow smoke it, it just enhances the flavor."