Gideon, 9, chows down on a watermelon during the watermelon eating contest at this year’s annual Optifest event at Renaissance High School on Saturday. All participants received a prize of either gift cards from local ice cream/ frozen yogurt places or a gift card to Guido’s Pizza. Neiman’s Market also helped with the event by giving the Clarkston Area Optimists discounts on the many watermelons that were devoured during the contest. See page 19 for more