Contestants try to avoid falling into pit filled with 1,000 gallons of mashed potatoes at Idaho Spud Day

Contestant lands in a pit of mashed potatoes during the annual Spud Tug at Idaho Spud Day in Shelley. Watch highlights in the video above. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com SHELLEY – Becoming world champions in Shelley’s Idaho Spud Day spud tug is a dream come true for Lyle Dye. The Firth man is one of five people who made up the Potato Skins. The team was one of numerous teams that competed in a tug-of-war over a pit filled with 1,000 pounds of mashed potatoes on Saturday. Before the event began, EastIdahoNews.com overheard one of Dye’s kids jokingly say, “If my dad wins this, I think it will be the highest achievement of his whole life.” After receiving the large trophy and the $150 cash prize at what has to be the most unapologetically Idaho event ever, Dye and his teammates looked towards a spirited crowd and jumped up and down for taking home the top award. In a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com, Dye laughed in response to his son’s previous statement before sarcastically proclaiming it was his finest achievement ever. “That’s absolutely true,” Dye said. “I’ve never done anything better in my life, except for maybe my marriage, grandkids and my love of God. Other than that, it’s way up there.” Gregg Nelson, one of the organizers of the spud tug, says the winners are crowned the world champions because there’s no other event like this anywhere in the world. “The only place in the world that I’m aware of where we fill up a hole in the ground full of mashed potatoes, we tug of war across the top of that. That’s epic!” Nelson says. “Nobody else does that.” Contestants participate in a tug of war over a pit of mashed potatoes at Shelley Spud Days. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com The spud tug is the culmination of the annual Spud Day event, which draws a massive crowd. The exact number of people who attended this year’s event is not clear, but Ross Foster with the Shelley Kiwanis Club, which hosts the celebration, says it more than doubles the town’s population for the day. Spud Day started 98 years ago with a local group who wanted to celebrate the end of potato harvest. It features an array of activities, such as potato sack races, a spud picking contest, the tater tot trot, a potato derby and potato decorating tournament and more. It began with a parade at 10 a.m. and dozens of vendors were on-hand at Dawn Lloyd Field throughout the day. One of the iconic trucks in the Shelley Spud Day parade Saturday. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com Randy Adams has been part of the festivities for many years. He runs The Prime Steer, a food vendor that serves burgers, prime rib, BBQ roast beef, hot dogs and fries made from eastern Idaho’s famous potatoes. It’s been a popular vendor at the Eastern Idaho State Fair for the last 50 years. RELATED | The Prime Steer marks 50 years as an Eastern Idaho State Fair food favorite Adams’ grandfather, Joseph Adams, a former publisher with The Shelley Pioneer newspaper, was among the founders of the first Spud Day celebration in 1927, according to historical records. One of the most iconic activities at Spud Day is the spud tug. Burns Concrete mixes 1,000 gallons of water and potato flakes in a cement truck and dumps it into an eight-foot by 15-foot pit that’s three feet deep. Mashed potato pit at Shelley Spud Day | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com Tom Keeler was operating the truck this year. He says it takes 70-75 turns in the drum to mix all the potatoes. The company reserves the cement truck specifically for this event, which means it’s kept clean and is not used for other jobs throughout the year. Justin Maddux, a member of Shelley’s Kiwanis Club, says it’s fun to see the park clear out and the crowds go wild during the spud tug competition. He’s been involved in organizing the spud tug for the last four years. Before Saturday’s competition, he told us what he’d like to see happen. “The last few years, I haven’t seen anybody take a real bath in the mashed potatoes. As they’re going in, they stop (themselves). The first person might dip a toe or something, but I want to see a team go face first into the mashed potatoes,” Maddux says. While none of the teams went into the pit head first, one of the participants, a sister missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, fell in twice. Mallory Higham, who was recently crowned Miss Russett, began the spud tug by tasting the potatoes for quality and falling backwards into the pit. This was Dye’s first time participating in the spud tug and he hopes to return next year to defend his title. WATCH HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPUD TUG IN THE VIDEO ABOVE. Lyle Dye, right, and the rest of his teammates pose for a photo after winning the spud tug. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com The post Contestants try to avoid falling into pit filled with 1,000 gallons of mashed potatoes at Idaho Spud Day appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com