Large audiences have gathered in past years to see how may Reuben sandwiches amateurs and professional eaters can cram (it’s a fun, but inelegant sport) into themselves in the World Championship Reuben Eating Contest, but they’ve gotten the biggest kick out of the “Reuben Relay,” a sandwich-making relay race featuring children from the community who are learning early about the importance of supporting local charitable organizations. Among last year’s participants, the Westrick family, Ryan, Sami and Walter, constructed their sandwiches as they scampered through the obstacle course on Jefferson Street, in front of Pastrami Joe’s Deli. This year’s contest will be held July 18th at 4 p.m. The Westrick kids will be participating for the third time this year. Other youngsters interested in participating can still sign up at Pastrami Joe’s. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Fountain Clinic. This year’s biggest fund raiser will win a two-hour pool party at the Oaklawn Life Improvement Center. Prizes for fastest time in each group will include Bombers baseball tickets, ice cream and bowling. There are also two passes to Full Blast.

Ryan Hodges, one of the owners of Hodges Jewelry in downtown Marshall, took home all the heartburn last year as he won top honors among amateur eaters in the World Championship Reuben Eating Contest to raise money for Marshall’s Fountain Clinic. Hodges rests up for this year’s July 18th contest in an Adirondack chair made by local attorney John Sullivan to be raffled on the day of the event. Tickets for the raffle are available at Pastrami Joe’s Deli, as are canisters where fans may place donations for individual amateur eaters who will compete this year. Amateurs also have canisters where they work. This year’s event will also include a “Reuben Relay” for youngsters and, of course, a professional event featuring some of the nation’s premier eaters.

Pastrami Joe’s will be partnering with the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters (AICE) to host the 4th Annual Event.  The professional division will host 6 or more eaters from the AICE.  An amateur event will host several rivalries including area financial institutions, downtown merchants, media personalities, service clubs and others. A children’s reuben sandwich making obstacle course contest adds fun for the whole family.  The event will be held on Saturday, July 18, beginning at 4:00 PM on Jefferson Street in front of Pastrami Joe’s Deli.

This is a great opportunity to support a worthy organization at a family event that will be loads of fun for competitors and spectators alike.

Donations can be made online at Fountainclinic.org.

The Third Annual Reuben Eating Championship July 19 will include a kids’ contest for the second time this year.
The competition is a sandwich making obstacle course involving kids 5-11 who are invited to join in the fun for a $10 minimum donation. All proceeds from the entry fees and any donations collected by the contestants will go to the Fountain Clinic.
The contest will begin at 2 p.m. on Jefferson Street in downtown Marshall.
It will consist of dressing up like a chef, building a Reuben sandwich while racing through an obstacle course and ringing the dinner bell in the end to signify their sandwich is complete.
Prizes will be awarded to the fastest chefs as well as the individual who collects the most donations.
“This is a great opportunity for kids to have fun and help to raise money for a good cause,” said Lori Zettell, chair of the event.
Any children who might like to participate are invited to pick up an entry form at Pastrami Joe’s. Spaces are limited so would-be contestants should sign up soon.

Picnic Style Rules are rules that acknowledge the tradition, culture and heritage of a particular food item. Simply put “Picnic Style Rules” are rules of a contest that do not allow for the mutilation, desecration, improper destruction of a food item.

The Association of Independent Competitve Eaters (AICE) believes that eating a particular food item the way it was intended, is not only playing proper tribute to the culture and heritage of the food but also makes for a more interesting and easiier to follow contest. Over the years, many competitive eating fans have gasped in horror as they suffered the indignity of watching Eaters separate, dunk, mush and mash and perform other unmentionable “Picnic profanities.”

Fans, Eaters, sponsors and other concerned citizens have reinforced the need and importance of “Picnic Style Rules” to increase the entertainment value of competitive eating and to eliminate the tricky business connected to the massacre of food.

It is the goal of AICE to encourage the development picnic style rules in all eating contests.

Battle Creek’s Jake “The Butcher” Casey pushed eventual victor Joe Menchetti, “The Food Warrior,” into a new world record last year nearly out-eating the champion in the 2nd Annual World Reuben Eating Championship in Marshall.
Now, Jake’s announced he’ll be back Saturday, July 19, when the Association of Competitive Eaters sends a team to the City of Hospitality to once again raise funds for the Fountain Clinic. The 3rd Annual World Reuben Eating Championship will be held from 2-4 p.m. on North Jefferson Street, in front of Pastrami Joe’s Deli, sponsor of the event. If Jake has improved as much from last year to this as he did between the first two events, he may just flat out-eat ALL the competition this year.
Casey, who is an education major in college, seems to be a quick learner. And if last year’s any indication, he can be counted on to “school” his fellow competitors in the science of speed eating and mass consumption and may just take home the 2008 trophy.
However, he’s going to have to watch out for more than Menchetti, who has dozens of eating titles to his name. Several other professional eaters will be in Marshall that day as well.
Back for a third go-round in the Reuben competition will be Chris “The American” Schlesinger, presently the New York Hard Boiled Egg Eating Champion, who ate an amazing 10 hard-boiled eggs in just a minute and 16 seconds to gain that title. Schlesinger also has recorded victories for consuming potato latkes, milk and cookies, ribs, hot dogs, strawberries, and other delicacies too numerous to mention. Schlesinger has 11 top three finishes in National and World Eating Championships.
Also gracing the stage at the July 19 Reuben event will be Tom “Goose” Gilbert, making his first appearance in Marshall. He is the current world record holder in Chicken Wings, as well as the National Canadian Back-Bacon Eating Champion. This 26-year-old counselor from the State of Massachusetts has smashed both the world record in meatballs and potato latkes and has consumed 46 hard-boiled eggs in five minutes to win the National Hard Boiled Egg Eating Championship in Brick, NJ. A Combat Medic in the Army Reserves, Gilbert has a disciplined style of eating that has earned him the honorary nickname, the “Green Beret of Grub.”
Rounding out the professionals registered to date is Pierre “Food Machete” Vincelette from Canada who recently won a hamburger-eating contest in Ontario by downing a 2.5-lb. burger and an order of fries in 15:32 seconds.
The day’s events will also include a Reuben Relay for kids as well as an amateur eating contest pitting various community rivals against each other. Anyone wanting to sign up may do so by contacting Michael Caron at P.J.’s for all the details.

Professionals, amateurs and kids participated Saturday, July 21, 2007, when Pastrami Joe’s Deli and the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters vied for championships in the 2nd Annual World Reuben Eating Contest in downtown Marshall.
The eating was great to watch, but the overwhelming benefit of the day’s activities was that $5,600 was raised for Marshall’s Fountain Clinic, the free clinic dedicated to providing needed health care for those unable to pay for it. The proceeds from the contest were dedicated primarily to purchasing medications.
Five professionals put their elbows on the table and downed a phenomenal number of sandwiches, led by Gentleman Joe Menchetti of Wallingford, CT, who barely broke a sweat as he set a new world record (six meat-filled delights) on his way to the win. Amateur honors went to Dale Greer of Marshall.
Twenty-four amateurs competed in bright sunshine, including the Mayors of both Marshall and Albion, Bruce Smith and Bill Wheaton, and a cadre of police professionals from the State Police, Sheriff’s Department and Marshall Police Department.
For the first time, a dozen children competed in the first annual Reuben Relay, constructing sandwiches from one end of an obstacle course to the other and drawing loud praise from the spectators gathered to watch.
The 2008 competition is slated to be held Saturday, July 19, 2008, beginning at 2 p.m. Those who want to compete may obtain entry forms at Pastrami Joe’s on Jefferson Street in Marshall.