SOUTHINGTON — The Southington Police Department prevailed in Nonna’s Pizza’s inaugural Pizza Eating Contest this past weekend.
Lower Center Street was closed from noon to 4 p.m. for the contest, which had three events which awarded trophies and other prizes.
The first event was an amateur contest, held at 2 p.m., in which members of the public could pay $60 to try to eat an 18 inch pizza the fastest. From among seven contestants, the winner was Robert McGee, who finished the pizza in 3 minutes and 33 seconds to take home the $500 prize.
The next event, held from 2 to 5 p.m., saw a team of four members of the Southington Police Department and a team of four members of the Southington Fire Department compete to see who could eat a 30 inch pizza the fastest. The Southington Police Department was victorious. For their win, Nonna’s will provide pizza for the entire department.
Finally, from 3 to 4 p.m., two professional eaters, Shawn Butler and Jerome Burns, each took on a 30 inch pizza themselves. Butler was the winner of this face-off, finishing his pie in 9 minutes and 32 seconds.
Nonna’s Pizza owner Ace Memeti said he came up with the idea of the contest to bring the community together. He said he wanted to see more community events downtown in addition to the annual Italian Festival and Apple Harvest Festival. He said he looks forward to bringing the event back next year.
“I thought it went great — I’m extremely happy for the first year,” he said. “I didn’t expect so many people to show up. Hopefully next year we can get even more people involved. I’m looking forward to making this a fun event for the community.”
Memeti said he has heard from area local police departments who may want to take on the Southington Police Department in a future contest.
