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View Full Version : Whatever happened to Spelling contests?


Gypsy
03-23-2005, 12:42
COL Jack...what is going on in Vermont, Sir? :eek: :D

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=3115895

Vermont boy has world's smelliest sneakers
March 23, 2005, 11:01 AM CST Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version

There wasn't much left of the sneakers Noah Nielsen entered into the contest Tuesday, but it was the stench that earned him the top prize.

Nielsen, 10, beat six other contestants from around the country in the 30th annual national rotten sneaker contest.

The secret of his success? "No socks, ever."

"The stank was from rubbing my toes back and forth and making them sweaty," said Nielsen, with his trophy in hand and two golden sneakers hanging from his neck.

Nielsen said he also played soccer and baseball in the three-year-old Adidas patched together with duck tape. The wide gaps in the shoes revealed grimy toes and emitted a pungent odor that drove one judge to gag, another to take a step back and a dog to roll on top of the sneakers.

"Human feet shouldn't smell that bad," said judge Bill Fraser, Montpelier city manager.

Nielsen is a veteran of the competition. Last year he was a runner-up in the state event.

In the week leading up to this year's contest, he refused to take a bath. When his parents insisted, they found him with his feet hanging out of the tub, his father Peter Nielsen said.

His parents wouldn't allow him to wear the sneakers to school, so he put them on in the morning and at night. Noah Nielsen even wore them to bed Monday night, said his sister, Izabel, 13.

As the winner, he was awarded a $500 savings bond, a $100 check for new sneakers and a supply of Odor-Eaters products.

The other young contestants came from as far away as Alaska, Texas, Washington and Utah to compete in the event, which is sponsored by Odor-Eaters.

They each competed in state competitions to make it to Montpelier.

The contest began in 1975 as a way to help a local sporting goods store sell shoes. In 1988, Odor-Eaters - maker of anti-foot-odor insoles, sprays and powder - assumed sponsorship of the event.

The four judges, including an odor expert from NASA and a black Labrador retriever, ranked the sneakers for their soles, heals, toes, laces and odor.

Kylan Dinkel, 10, from Wasilla, Alaska, said she played soccer in her muddy laceless sneakers for four years.

Jake Nelson, 10, of Lehi, Utah, dragged his behind his scooter. "He just doesn't like to wear socks," his father Steve Nelson said.

But it was Nielsen's that stood out. "I didn't like that," Bill Aldrich of NASA said after he took a sniff.

"I'll just take a step back," said judge Martha Tucker. "Those are impressive."

Jack Moroney (RIP)
03-23-2005, 15:20
Gypsy,
This is what passes for success and culture in Vermont. Remember these are folk that take pride in being called "woodchucks" and referring to everyone else as flatlanders. Now a woodchuck lives in the ground, subsists off the efforts of others , seems to have a penchant for running under cars, and sleeps for half the year. So what was your question again :D

Jack Moroney-remembering fondly my first encounter with a native Vermonter who challenged my right to live in his state.

casey
03-23-2005, 19:29
Jack Moroney-remembering fondly my first encounter with a native Vermonter who challenged my right to live in his state.

LOL - Lucky for you Vermont only needs 1 State Trooper Sir, what are the odds he'll ever find that body ?!!

Gypsy
03-23-2005, 19:50
So what was your question again :D



Sir, I'm laughing too hard to remember. :D

Sdiver
03-23-2005, 22:46
Heck.....if it wasn't for Vermont, L.L. Bean wouldn't have any customers.

Cincinnatus
03-24-2005, 08:22
There's a joke, told most often of Mainers, that applies.

Old timer in a country store opines "People move up heah, have kids, theah kids have kids, and afore ya know it, theah callin' themselves Maine-aahs. Well, the cat could have kittens in the oven, but that wouldn't make 'em biscuits. Now, would it?"

I personally love the quirky politics up heah, but it does pretty much require you keep your sense of humor.

Razor
03-24-2005, 16:59
Ever listen to any of Tim Sample's comedy, C?

Cincinnatus
03-24-2005, 17:26
Don't think so. Dad played "Bert and I" and "More Bert and I" when I was growing up. He has an incredible ear for accents. Used to be a pretty fair miimic, too.