1st MV Sausage Eating Contest

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YOUNGSTOWN — The first Mahoning Valley Sausage Eating Contest is to begin at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Rust Belt Brewing Co. inside the B&O Station Banquet Hall, 530 Mahoning Ave.

Contestants will have five minutes to eat as many sausages as possible during the event, which will run in conjunction with the Artists of the Rust Belt FolkFest, set for noon to 7 p.m. at the eatery.

Anyone age 21 or older can register, and the entry fee is $100 per person. Eight have signed up, including Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti and county Auditor Michael Sciortino.

T-shirts will be given to all participants, with the winner receiving a trophy.

The festival will have five area folk bands and 30 to 40 local artists, some of whom plan to raffle off their work as part of a Chinese auction.

Proceeds from the sausage-eating contest and festival, as well as sponsoring monies, are to go to the D&E Counseling Center’s Children’s Circle of Friends Foundation, established to provide support for children’s mental-health programs, noted Cathy Reppy, the agency’s public relations director. In addition, the restaurant is to donate a portion of beer sales to the foundation, she said.

For more information or to register, call Reppy at (330) 793-2487.