4th of July

Jared Gamble from Edmonds wins our box folding competition. How does Pagliacci celebrate the 4th of July? By declaring independence from our pizza ovens of course. It has become a tradition to shut down on the 4th of July and throw a picnic for our crew. We usually take over a spot at Golden Gardens in Ballard. As soon as our signs go up, people in the park begin asking us if we are selling pizza. While we think every day is pizza day, there are a few times when pizza just doesn’t suit the holiday. The 4th is all about barbecue. And that’s what we do for our crew. A lot of it. Burgers, cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, chicken, hot dogs and sausages. After fueling up and socializing, we have our crew show off in our annual Pizzalympics. The first event was Fastest Box Folding. The goal is to be the fastest person to fold three boxes. In an event that is usually dominated by drivers, this year’s winner was a cook - Jared Gamble from Edmonds Delivery Kitchen.

The next event was Fastest Toss. Cooks had to toss out pizza dough to 17” without tearing a hole in it before anyone else. Mike Baxley, General Manager of 145th, proved he is the fastest dough tosser in the west. At least this year.

Cooks had a second chance to prove themselves in the Biggest Dough event. They had 45 seconds to toss out the biggest dough without tearing a hole in it. Sam Kosala from Ballinger took home the ribbon.

Then it was on to the team events, starting with our relay race. Every year our relay race changes. This year the first leg of the relay required one person to fold a box blindfolded. The second leg required two people to toss a pizza together with one hand behind their backs (our version of a three-legged race). It works fine pounding and spreading out the dough on the table. The challenge was that they had to toss the dough in the air at least once and the dough had to be 15” before it was put in the box. The final leg of the race involved just one person who spun around 10 times with his or her head on a baseball bat before attempting to deliver the boxed pizza dough to the finish line. Edmonds emerged victorious. The finale was a good old-fashioned tug-of-war. It came down to 85th verses University in the finals. It could have gone either way. In the end, University toppled the competition.

Looking forward to next year!