Garlic Eating Contest

Helen Evans of Drums
our 2001 and 2002
Garlic Eating
Contest Winner.
In 2001 she ate 13 clovers in 2002 she ate 25 cloves of the hottest, freshest straight from the ground garlic.
Helen is the only woman to participate in all four contest.She is the only person to win two years in a row. I heard her say,she is retiring from her proud post of garlic princess, and won't
be back next year but who knows she may go for three in a row.

Posted on Tue, Aug. 27, 2002
Times Leader
written by Casey Jones
A stinky herb no match for stout stomach
Long-haul tourney
In an age of arrogant champions, Helen Evans was a breath of fresh air Sunday. Well, sort of.
Evans ate 24 cloves of garlic, an event record, to retain her Goddess of Garlic title at the Keystone State Garlic and Herb Festival at the Zanolini Nursery in Drums. Still, she kept things in perspective.
"There's nothing I can say," Evans said, humbly. "I'm as stupid as they come."
Even dumber than last year, when the "40-something" Drums resident ate 13 cloves to win the crown. But not as dumb as Barry Veron of Lansford.
Veron, the Carbon County contender who consumed 52 assorted hot peppers to win Saturday's consumption contest, came back on one day of rest to battle Evans and eight others in the festival's signature event.
The garlic was hotter than ever, Evans said. So was the competition.
There was the Kid, 16-year-old rookie Adam Kobialka, who was tossing down garlic like gum drops. And the spiritual favorite, Father Augustine Poonelil, a local priest. Poonelil grew up eating spicy food in his native India, and had heaven and heredity on his side.
The contestants bit. The garlic bit back. A dose of Georgian Fire garlic sent three competitors running for the lemonade stand in the early rounds.
Lynne Ullrich from Maryland was the first to fall after eating half a clove, and stated the obvious. "I'm not much of a garlic eater."
Poonelil balked at a clove of Bavarian Purple in the seventh round, and left in search of a breath mint. The Kid went running to his mother, who was
waiting with a cold beverage, after 17 rounds.
That left Evans and Veron: the garlic specialist against the all-around fire eater. They squared off like a couple of garlic gunslingers at high noon. No trash talk or taunting. Just bite, chew, swallow.
As the contest entered its second hour, Evans still sat demurely, like little Miss Muffet, eating her garlic. Veron was climbing the walls like a spider, but couldn't chase Evans away. He threw in the towel before he threw up his lunch.
"That Helen, she just won't give up," Veron said in awe.
"What you saw here today was two very sick, very determined people, who
really love their garlic," nursery manager and event organizer Paula Willis said.
Garlic, a kissin' cousin of the onion, is pungent, powerful, and crushed
with contradiction. It's an aphrodisiac, yet causes flatulence. It reduces
cholesterol, but gives you heartburn.
It is best taken in moderation, or with plenty of alcohol. Two years ago,contestants were allowed to drink beer and wine while competing, and they
chowed down like Energizer Bunnies in a garlic garden, prompting a rulechange.
Prohibition didn't phase Evans. She takes her garlic neat, without a chaser.