Local dignitaries sniff out the stinkiest shoes
The smell of victory and “de-feet” was in the air, as boys and girls ages 5-15 competed in the Odor-Eaters’ Rotten Sneaker Contest at Walmart in Gallup. The contest is a fun, family-friendly event to find the most rotten sneakers in all of greater Gallup.
Contestants’ shoes were judged by a panel of “odorologists” — expert sniffers from the Gallup community, which consisted of returning sniffer Sammy Chioda of Millennium Media, Inc., Amy Coats and Michelle Perez of Foundations of Freedom, and JC of radio station 93X FM. Together, they rated the shoes based on how bad they looked, and, of course, how rotten they smelled.
“I did this last year and it was so much fun!” Chioda said.
New-coming judges, Amy and Michelle said, “This will be the first time doing this and it’s going to be exciting and very very different.”
JC of 93X said, “I thought it would be fun to do, and hopefully I can still smell afterwards.”
Odor-Eater Marketer Dave Gugino said of all the sales nationwide, this Walmart store here in Gallup by far sells the most Odor-Eaters.
“We love coming here and it’s a blast for us, as well as the kids,” he said.
Other representatives from Odor-Eaters, Eric Martin and Mike Harvey scoured the Gallup Walmart store looking for eager young contestants as the contest was beginning.
“Gallup is such a unique, fun town and we love doing this, and Gallup is so welcoming,” Martin said.
Odor-Eaters’ Rotten Sneaker Contests have been an American tradition for over 40 years. The very first contest was in Montpelier, VT, in 1975, when a local storeowner wanted to promote a new line of sneakers.
Meanwhile, parents and onlookers were treated to free samples of Odor-Eaters as they cheered on their kids in the contest. As the shoes were sniffed, looked at, and re-sniffed by the panel, scores were tabulated and results were given.
Third runner-up was “Devon” who won a $25 gift card and an Odor-Eater Medal with Odor-Eater products.
Second runner up went to “Ashkii,” who won a $50 gift card, along with a medal and Odor-Eater products.
The first-place prize went to “Josua” who won a $100 gift card, an Odor-Eater Trophy, and a year supply of Odor-Eaters.
By Dee “JC” Velasco