Tree-Mendus Fruit's
International Cherry Pit-Spitting Championship
38th Annual Pit Spit Results

Brian “Young Gun” Krause takes 9^th World Championship

     EAU CLAIRE, MI (July 2, 2011). Cherry pits took center court at the 38^th International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship at Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm near here. The top spit of the day sailed 66 feet one and one-half inches and put Young Gun back on the throne as International Champion, his 9^th win. Rick “Pellet Gun” Krause, 15-time winner from Yuba City, AZ and son Brian “Young Gun” Krause, Jackson, MI, have reigned over cherry pit spitting in the 38 years of the competition. “Young Gun” Krause is the holder of the world’s record at 93 feet 6-1/2 inches.

     The pressure was on for both Krause’s as an earlier spit from Kevin Bartz of Niles, MI rolled to a stop at the 64 feet 11 inch mark, giving him second place. Kevin was a youth winner in 1979, and his father, Richard Bartz, the International Champion in 1977.

Matt “BB Gun” Krause, brother to Brian, took third place, just edging out his dad at 62 feet. Matt B Gun” and Brian “Young Gun” were also youth winners back in the1990’s.

     Pellet Gun Krause spat an impressive 60 foot 6 inch distance. In 2010, his temporary win with a 48 foot half-inch spit from his knees in 2010 was disqualified after a complaint was filed to the official committee. In review of the rules --Rule #10.Spitters must stand flat on the ground… to spit – the title was given to the second place winner. And thus, Young Gun took his eighth title and Pellet Gun forfeited his sixteenth.

 “Gentleman Joe” Lessard, Sr. of Blenheim, ON Canada and three-time International Champion spat 32 feet 3 inches. He and his son, Joe Lessard, Jr., have dominated the Canadian Championship.

     In the Women’s Division, Tracy Miner, a banker from Valparaso, IN spat a cherry pit 39 feet 6 inches for the win.

Reid Gillis, 5, of Granger, IN won the Youth 5 & Under Division.

     Chloe and Zach Bartz, 9 and 6, respectively, sister and brother of Niles, took top honors among the 9-12 and 6-8 year olds. The strong performance of the Bartz Family has raised much interest in pit-spitting circles as a strong rival the Krause Family dynasty.

The dignitary winner was Diana Bernstein, representing Israel. Berrien County Trial Court Judge Sterling Schroch and Mayor Dave Kurtz served as Official Line and Measurement Judges, respectively.

     The 39th International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship will be July 7, 2012 at Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, Eau Claire, MI.

Tree-Mendus is a family-oriented, agri-tourism destination in Southwest Michigan. The farm features U-Pick fruit, family recreation, and a country store. For more information on this year’s event, visit www.treemendus-fruit.com or call 877-863-3276.

The 39th International Cherry Pit-Spitting Championship will be July 7th, 2012 at Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, Eau Claire, MI on the Official Cherry Pit Spitting Court. As far as the pits fly, it is the premier and epitome of summer Olym-pit events. The contest founder is Herb
Teichman of Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm in Eau Claire, Michigan site of  the tournament since its inception. Eau Claire, a small Southwestern Michigan community, recognized as “the Cherry Pit Spitting Capital of the World” in the July 2003 edition of Readers Digest, takes a matter-of-fact—perhaps even phlegmatic—view of the international attention it garners annually as the nearby Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm hosts its International Cherry Pit Spit competition over the Fourth of July holiday.

This year marks 38 years of unbroken competition. Tree-Mendus is a family-oriented, agri-tourism destination in Southwest Michigan. The farm features U-Pick fruit, family recreation, and a country store. For more information on this year’s event, call 877-863-3276.