A little bit of rain wasn’t going to deter them. They came here to spit.
“Some say I’m a natural,” the long-reigning bean spitting champion Willie Curtis said. “I really don’t like to lose.”
His first attempt flew 20 feet through the air — impressive, but nothing to write home about, and several feet short of his competitors. Curtis said afterward that it was a fluke, and it was. His mouth had been too dry.
For his second attempt, Curtis ran in place for a few seconds and leaped off the ground, letting the bean catapult through the air.
Curtis has been spitting beans for decades, winning the Lake County Fair’s bean spitting contest a whopping 29 times. In his prime, the Lowell resident claimed for himself the fair’s record for longest distance spit at 64 feet, 11 inches. Curtis said in the past he’d been able to reach even farther distances during practices, launching a bean over 75 feet away.
Nowadays, he can’t spit beans quite as far. He’s older and has a family now — there’s not as much time to spend an hour a day spitting like he used to do. On top of it all, he was recently in an accident and injured his ribs and lungs.
But 32 feet and 8 inches was enough — more than six feet farther than the second place finisher — to secure Curtis yet another victory in the Lake County Fair’s bean spitting contest Saturday morning.
He and nine other competitors from ages two and up competed in the event on the rainy day. The contest was split into three divisions — one for kids and one each for adult men and women.
Each contestant stood behind a yellow line and was given two opportunities to spit Great Northern white beans (so they could be easily spotted in the grass) as far as they could.
Lake County Fair Board member Michael Fraley, who was running the event, darted around with his tape measure to chart each competitor’s distance.
“The best part of events like this is the enjoyment the youth get out of it,” Fraley said. “Some of the kids are a little shy at first, they’re nervous about being in front of everyone, but then there’s the excitement on the kid’s faces — they get a feeling of accomplishment.”
The top competitors in each group were awarded a trophy, and the winner in the kids’ group was also given a big jar of beans to take home with them.
Young Keeli Ford took second place in the kids’ group, spitting a distance of 4 feet and three inches. The trick to a great spit?
“Taco tongue,” as Ford calls it. She rolls up her tongue into a U-shape and blows out, letting the bean fly.
Curtis says bean spitting is a science.
While others in the contest were sometimes assisted by a lucky gust of wind, the long-time champ went into detail about things like air pressure and tongue technique. Curtis may not be able to fire beans 75 feet through his mouth anymore, but he remains what he’s been for decades: the bean spitting champion of Lake County.
Jared Quigg is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
