Dime tossers each have their own style of winning at county fair

WEST MEAD TOWNSHIP — Overhand?

Underhand?

Or is no technique at all better when it comes to pitching a dime to try to win drinkware at the Crawford County Fair?

All three (or is just it two?) techniques were winning Thursday afternoon at two game booths offering the opportunity to win a glass, cup or tumbler for a mere 10 cents a chance.

The concept is simple — pitch a dime at a glass. If it lands inside, it’s a win.

“I don’t have one — not really,” Rachel Motter, 13, of McKean said of her technique after a dime she threw successfully landed in a cup, scoring another trophy for her collection. “I like to toss.”

The cup added a seventh drinkware item to a small cardboard box that only was designed to hold six pieces.

“I’m going to have to take these to the car — I don’t want to have to carry them around,” her father, Chris Motter, said with a smile.

Wendy Gardner, a member of the Saegertown High School Baseball Boosters Club, was overseeing the club’s pitch booth as baseball team members staffed it.

“It’s a lot of fun for people,” she said of the game. “We got $250 in dimes to have on hand, but we’ve had a lot of people come up with their own bags of dimes.”

So what makes a good pitcher at a baseball boosters dime stand? According to Gardner, it’s simple.

“Good rhythm and repetition,” she said as she swung her right arm in a slow, rhythmic underhanded motion forward and back.

There is a minimal element of danger being in the booth, too, even when trying to stay out of the way.

“I’ve had one or two (dimes) hit me on the back,” she said with a smile. “You have to be careful.”

Down the midway at another booth, Bret Schweinfurth of Franklin and his daughter, Castibelle, 9, wouldn’t agree on tossing style, as each was having dimes land successfully, piling up multiple prizes.

“It’s underhand and low,” the elder Schweinfurth said after he made a successful toss, though a ricochet off its intended target.

“It’s turn sideways and go overhand,” Castibelle said. “There is no real secret. It’s some luck and some skill.”

Castibelle was creating her own luck Thursday with tossing skills she has honed, according to her father.

“We were here last year and she’s spent the past year practicing pitching dimes at home with her stuffed animals,” Bret said with a chuckle.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at [email protected].

Is it a good idea for lawmakers to force content filters on phones and tablets to protect kids from porn?

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.

You can find the most current list of participating businesses for this year's Reader Rewards Card here!