International Cherry Pit Spitting Day – July 6, 2024

History of International Cherry Pit Spitting Day

International Cherry Pit Spitting Day is a day specially created to host cherry pit spitting competitions around the world. The origin of the day is associated with Herb Teichman. He is the owner of Tree-mendus Fruit Farm. They first held a fun competition of cherry pit spitting in 1974 at his farm. Unbeknownst to Teichman, his innovation would be elevated to the status of an international event. The international competition that is organized in different locations around the United States generally involves standing on a mark and spitting out cherry pits as far as possible.

Each contestant is given three tries and the longest shot out of the three is recorded. The contestant with the longest recorded range is declared the winner. Today, the competition is divided into different categories to match people of different age groups and specifications. Cherry pit spitting is practiced in Australia, France, Germany, Canada, and the U.S. The states in which they are most popular are Michigan and Utah. The “sport” is popular, although there are no leagues organized.

Since 1980, the Krause and Lessard families have dominated the competition, although someone outside the two families often beats them. For example, in 1992, Bob Ickes of Dowagiac, Michigan won with a 58 feet two inches spit, while Ron Matt of Chicago won the competition in 2012 with a spitting range of 69 feet.

The current Guinness World Record for the longest range shot belongs to Brian “Young Gun” Krause, a member of the Krause family who recorded a cherry pit spitting distance of 93 ft 6.5 inches in 2004. He would go on to record an even farther spit, albeit in a freestyle display. Sadly, Teichman’s Tree-mendus Fruit Farm was sold in 2020 in an auction, bringing an end to the competition in Michigan. Despite this, the tradition continues all over during the cherry-picking time.