Steve Schmidt
signonsandiego.com
LAKESIDE — Navy Town, meet navel town.
Mike Perine of Lakeside (left) and Dallas Glover of Santee tied in the beer belly contest. Perine had his wife paint an image of an elephant on his stomach before the contest.
LAKESIDE — Navy Town, meet navel town.
On the same afternoon that the Navy staged a massive air parade over San Diego, with some 200 aircraft showing off their underbellies, a Lakeside hangout staged a parade of massive bellies.
Saturday's beer belly contest at Eastbound Bar & Grill was a cultural oddity, all right. Few could recall, or perhaps cared to recall, anything quite like it in recent years.
About 100 people -- sunburned men, kids, proud contestants' wives -- gawked and laughed as the seven entrants, six men and one woman, brandished their gifts.
There was Dan Deaton, 59, of Santee. He said his buddies in his motorcycle club call him "Bellyman Dan." Not that he needed to explain why.
There was Cody Alves, 22, of Lakeside. He said he earned his gut the honest way. "I drink lots of beer," he said. "Coors Light."
There was Staci Colia, 24, also of Lakeside. Her tummy pooched out a little, but not enough for a trio of judges and she got booted in an early round of scoring.
"I'm a little bummed," she said.
At the start of the hour-long event, staged as part of an Eastbound anniversary celebration, it was announced that the contestants would be judged on "overall aesthetics, overall presentation and overall circumference".
When it was over, turned out two people would share the crown of Mr. Beer Belly 2011 -- Mike Perine, 65, a Lakeside sign-maker, and Dallas Glover, 30, a plumber from Santee.
Said Perine: "I play Santa Claus every year too."
The winners got Padres tickets and other swag. And bragging rights, of course.
Steve Schmidt: steve.schmidt@uniontrib.com ; Twitter: @steveschmidt1
Seven contestants stood before the judges at the Mr. Beer Belly 2011 contest at the Eastbound Bar & Grill in Lakeside.
