RIVERFEST CRAWFISH CHAMPION DEFEATED

For seven years one man has defended the crawfish eating title at Riverfest, but as Don Greenwood left the table Saturday afternoon he had to concede defeat.

"There's always some young punk gunning for you," Greenwood joked.

The Cape Girardeau resident is originally from New Orleans and knows his crawfish, but then so does the new champion Paul Maret of Cape Girardeau.

The hot sun beat down on the contestants as they sat at tables set up on the street. The crawfish were so hot that many of the contestants had blisters on their thumbs and index fingers. But the heat from the sun and crawfish did not stop them from competing.

The contest is an annual event sponsored by Broussard's Cajun Cuisine. About 70 people gathered to watch the contestants inhale the crawfish.

The competition involves more than just the ability to eat crawfish quickly. Each of the 11 contestants were given two pounds of crawfish. The object of the contest is to be the first one to eat the entire two pounds of crawfish correctly. A judge was picked from the crowd to determine if the crawfish were eaten properly.

"There can't be no meat left," said Broussard's manager Bo Posey.

Maret finished in third place last year.

"I told Don, last year that I was going to beat him this year," Maret said.

The two sat opposite of each other and squared off. Maret finished first, Scott Keeley of Cape Girardeau placed second and Herrin, Ill resident Jack Huff took third.

Winners received gift certificates and T-shirts as prizes.

"It is just something to do for Riverfest," Posey said. "We do this every year."

At the end of the competition contestants were treated to a few frosty cold ones, courtesy of Broussard's.