Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Taking big bites to help a little boy

The Dairy Inn's hot dog-eating contest benefits Josiah Wineberger.

By NICOLE BARDO-COLON
Published July 5, 2007

Emma Wineberger, 5, works to gulp down dogs at an annual Hot Dog Eating Contest where the profits from the event were going to her family. Emma's brother, Josiah Wineberger, suffered brain damage in February when a speaker fell from a balcony at BayWalk and crushed his head. Emma, who did not place in the event, managed to eat seven hot dogs but left the majority of the buns behind.
	[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]

She took her seat next to the big boys with a look of determination on her face, even though at 5 years old she was the only contestant whose feet didn't reach the ground.

She never flinched as the cameras flashed around her. She kept eating until she had consumed all seven hot dogs placed before her, only not the buns.

"I wanted to win," said Emma Wineberger after the 16-and-under competition. "But I didn't want to eat the buns."

She was the smallest competitor at the annual Fourth of July hot dog-eating contest at Dairy Inn. But she and her older brother Michael, 12, who competed in the next round, had the biggest reason to want to win.

Josiah Wineberger, their younger brother, is the 3-year-old boy who was seriously injured in February when a speaker fell on his head at the BayWalk shopping complex in downtown St. Petersburg. Although Emma lost to another youth who wolfed down 7 3/4 hot dogs, including buns, all the contestants knew they were competing to help Josiah.

David Kornbluth, who recently bought the Dairy Inn on 9th Street in north St. Petersburg with his wife, Julie, decided he wanted to donate proceeds from the event to the Wineberger family.

"This year we really wanted to help someone," he said. "After I saw Josiah's picture, I thought there is someone that people have forgot."

But people did not forget. More than 50 came out to support his cause Wednesday, including the entire Wineberger family.

"It's been four or five months, and people still remember," said John Wineberger, Josiah's father. "It's amazing. We're very humble and very thankful for it."

This contest had everything you would expect at a Fourth of July event, including ice cream, an arcade, a moon walk and, of course, a lot of hot dogs.

Men, women and children eager to become champions stuffed hot dogs into their mouths as the crowd cheered them on. Some dunked the buns in water to make them slide down easier.

R.J. Frasca, 35, won the men's heavyweight competition. He consumed 14 1/2 hot dogs in 10 minutes, shoving two in at a time and wetting the bread as he bent over the table. Five minutes after his round ended, he was still pushing the remains back into his overstuffed mouth and trying to swallow.

"I watched Joey Chestnut for inspiration," Frasca said, referring to the world-class competitive eater. "It gets tough after six or seven minutes."

Julie Kornbluth said the event was a success.

"We didn't expect this many people to come out," she said. "We were so happy the family came out."

Both parents said their son is progressing slowly. John Wineberger said physical therapists told him Tuesday that they did not believe he would ever be 100 percent again.

"It worries us, there's so much we wanted him to do growing up," he said.

The proceeds from T-shirts and food sold at the event will be given to the Wineberger family.

There is also a fund set up for Josiah at Mercantile Bank where people can donate money to the family.

Nicole Bardo-Colon can be reached at nbardo-colon@sptimes.com or 727 893-8779

[Last modified July 4, 2007, 22:29:30]