On Saturday, Jan. 29, after a slightly longer wait than initially planned, fruitcakes once again flew in Manitou Springs.
The Great Fruitcake Toss, presented by the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce and Collin Street Bakery, kicked off the 2022 schedule of events the chamber hosts. With a total attendance of nearly 300 people during the two-hour event, residents and visitors alike enjoyed the beautiful late January afternoon at Memorial Park.
This year’s events consisted of balance, accuracy, distance and basket toss.
Fruitcake royalty was crowned based on the overall highest scores in events; they are King Nathan Hollis and Queen Kate Herren. Marielle Carbajal won the title of bake-off champion with “Abuela’s Cake.”
As part of the event, food donations were collected for St. Andrew’s Food Pantry.
“Many thanks to everyone that made a donation. All of the donations will be extremely appreciated by the community,” said Michelle Tomasik of the food pantry.
To minimize food waste, the Chamber of Commerce again teamed up with Smokebrush Farm at SunMountain Center to provide the leftover fruitcakes to their farm animals. All of the fruitcakes made for the event consisted of minimal ingredients, to keep them safe for the animals.
The event winners are:
Age 60 and older — balance, Jennifer; accuracy, Carol; distance, Dan (112 feet); and basket toss, Kelvin.
Age 18 to 59 — balance, David G.; accuracy, Justey W.; distance, Nathan (212 feet); and basket toss, Brandon H.
Age 11 to 17 — balance, Xavier; accuracy, Sierra; distance, Jack M. (92 feet); and basket toss, Jack M.
Age 10 and younger — balance, Lincoln; accuracy, Lucas M.; distance, Dominic (59 feet); and basket toss, Ariana H.