Event combines pop culture and library promotion
By: Candice Leigh Helfand
Anyone with a weak stomach would have done well to avoid the South Brunswick Library last weekend.
Inspired by reality television, the library on Saturday held its own session of "Fear Factor," a show made famous for its stomach churning eating stunts.
"We always try to find a way to combine pop culture and library events. We always want to get more teenagers in here," said Saleena Davidson, the young adult librarian.
The library also held a "Survivor"-inspired event, so this would not be the first time it has implemented reality television as inspiration for events, she said.
Kids between the ages of 11 and 17 came to test both their wills and their stomachs by eating the most appalling combinations of foods imaginable. There were even five buckets on hand, in case any of the contestants "lost their lunch" as Ms. Davidson phrased it. Two or three contestants actually made use of said buckets as the competition went further along.
Ms. Davidson was very careful in selecting the food items.
"I tried to choose a large assortment, because there will be a variety of ethnicities, some that live a vegetarian lifestyle," she said.
Some of the items up for grabs included sardines, butter sticks, barbecue-flavored larvae, olives, peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, and lollipops with habanero pepper flavorings (the hottest pepper in the world), and those were just the nonmeat items.
There also were crickets, which were described by contestants as "not that bad," "dry" and "kind of hard."
The game was played by splitting different foods into six groups. The contestants then roll a die, and choose a food item from that number group. They would then roll the die again, and the audience would choose an item to go with it. For round one though, everyone had the same thing; bread drenched in water (declared by some to be the most disgusting part of the challenge).
While visibly nervous, the brave players were up for the challenge for a variety of reasons.
"I just want to challenge myself," said Deanna Kovalcin, 12.
"I think bugs would be really cool to eat," said Drew Vanderleek, 14.
Most, however, had their eyes on the prize.
"I entered because I could win an iPod Nano, and to gain the fame and glory," said 12-year-old Atul Divankarla, the only contestant to nominate himself for two consecutive rounds of habanero lollipops. The iPod, donated by a private party, was the grand prize.
In the end, Drew stood triumphant, with 16-year-old Alay Patel finishing at an extremely close second place.
"Drew literally won by about 2 seconds," Ms. Davidson said.
The two went through the competition, surviving combinations such as crickets with peanut butter, and a concoction that included mayonnaise, larvae and mixed Spanish vegetables. They went head-to-head for awhile, drinking disgusting shakes and eating habanero lollipops.
Afterward, they were given large quantities of water, to wash the tastes of the competition out of their systems.

