XENIA — A sibling rivalry formed during the watermelon eating contest at the Greene County Fair Aug. 1.
Victoria Casey, 10, and Rickey Casey, 11, went head-to-head during the event’s 8-11 age group and it spilled over into the bleachers afterward — in a friendly way.
Victoria, a Xenia resident and member of the Jitterbugs 4-H, won the contest. But as they were munching on some leftover melon, Rickey asked who had done a better job cleaning off the rind. When told Rickey had done a better job, Victoria made sure her brother was put in his place.
“But I still won,” she said with a smile.
Victoria actually had a pretty good strategy. Taller than most of the other competitors, she used her height to her advantage.
“You bend down, it’s easier,” she said. “It’s easier to do without your hands. You can get right into it.”
Breanna Coates, 8, was second in that age group. She tried it last year and wasn’t among the top three. She was a little more confident this year.
“Once I got started, I knew I could come in one place,” she said.
Xenia resident Ethan Charles won the 15-18 two years ago and won it again this year with a simple theory of putting his face down in the melon and chomping away.
“That was the plan,” he said.
He was also accused of some nasal intervention in helping him win.
Charles called it the “nose technique.”
Hey, whatever it takes.
