By Gerri Miller
Staff Writer
Photos by Bob Ealum and Gerri Miller
Prattville Police Chief Mark Thompson won by half a pickled pig’s ear sandwich Friday in his race to beat reporter Marty Roney Friday in a contest near the fountain downtown.
Chief Thompson and Roney faced each other in a pickled pig’s ear eating contest that was all done for a good cause. Autauga County Probate Judge Kim Kervin had the idea of giving the young people something to do since schools were shut down because of the COVID-19 health crisis.
A youth voting contest for the Autauga County Probate Office Future Voters Program was planned. Kervin got on Facebook and asked the young people to vote for their favorite sandwich. Chief Thompson and Roney would face off to see who could eat the most sandwiches with the winning ingredients in five minutes. Kervin would host the event.
They could have been eating peanut and jelly. Even ham and cheese. But the overwhelming winning sandwich was the pickled pig’s ear. Not only did the young people vote for the pig’s ear, but Prattville polices officers and local politicians got online and posted videos of their votes for the pig’s ear.
The pickled pig’s ear it would be. Leona Sedinger, wife of Autauga County Sheriff Joe Sedinger, was the official cook for the culinary delicacy. Slabs of white bread were placed on the table and the condiment both contenders selected: mustard. A large crowd was gathering to watch the spectacle.
Chief Thompson made no visible facial expressions while calmly and quickly chowing down his sandwich, but Roney looked like he was going to gag. “Missy, come give me a kiss,” Roney called out to his wife in the crowd.
In the end, Chief Thompson was able to finish a whole pickled pig’s ear sandwich while Roney could only make it through half a sandwich. Kervin awarded the winner’s trophy to Chief Thompson and a “loser’s” trophy to Roney, but it was all done in fun.
“What a blessing to live in a county where you can get the Chief of Police and a local know-it-all reporter to come out and make something fun while teaching the young people about voting,” she said.
Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie and Sheriff Sedinger even got in on the fun at the end of the contest. Both men made their own pickled pig’s ear sandwich and appeared to finish them without incident.
Kervin said she would like to make it an annual event, which elicited a groan from the contest table.
