On this date in 1960, Seal Beach resident Don Gill, age 22, of 1206 Ocean Avenue won the first annual Long Beach State College Inter-Fraternity Spaghetti Eat-Off. This mighty feat was accomplished at the Gay 90’s restaurant in Signal Hill.
We’ve had many celebrities in Seal Beach, both as visitors and as residents, but there was only one “World’s Champion Glutton,” as the judges dubbed Don. Don won $25 for his fraternity, Sigma Pi by polishing off 3 pounds and 7 ounces of spaghetti and going the distance of 1400 feet of pasta.
Don is pictured below next to his nifty trash can trophy (which might be useful later) and 7 empty plates. He is surrounded by the event judges (l to r) former MLB player Vern Stephens, ex-MLB umpire Beans Reardon, Long Beach Independent columnist Bob Wells, and engineer Martin Nishkian.
There is no record of a second annual Long Beach State College Inter-Fraternity Spaghetti Eat-Off, so Don probably still holds the title.
(LB Independent staff photo by Bob Shumway and poorly reproduced from accursed microfilm)
– Michael Dobkins
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