Melon propellin' gets the Sunset fest folks yellin'

In medieval times, the trebuchet was a deadly weapon used to besiege castles with flaming projectiles.

On Saturday, trebuchets at the Summer Sunset Festival in Lake in the Hills were loaded with much more benign ammunition -- watermelons.

Sunset Park was the setting for what has become an annual tradition at the Lake in the Hills festival -- the Melon Propellin' Competition, in which teams design catapults to see who can launch the heavy melons the farthest.

The contest came on the second day of the seventh annual Summer Sunset Festival, a day jam-packed with activities, from the morning parade to the band performances in the evening.

New to this year's Saturday lineup was the Kids' Korner, an area filled with activities for elementary school-aged children. Saturday's Kids' Korner featured a magician, a mad science demonstration and Lollypop the Clown's balloon artistry.

"We had a great night last night, and the Kids' Korner has been a huge success," Summer Sunset Festival co-chair Paul Mulcahy said.

The Melon Propellin' Competition left chunks of jagged melon crust and obliterated pieces of melon flesh scattered over the grass as 15-pound watermelons exploded on impact.

It took six burly men, all guides in the Crystal Lake YMCA's father-daughter Indian Princesses program, to lower the 20-foot arm of the Chactow Chucker, counterweighted with 800 pounds, that when released launched the melon in a perfect spiral to easily best the field.

Dozens of spectators gasped as the Chactow Chucker, one of three entries this year, launched a melon 392 feet. If the melon had gone a few feet farther, it would have hit parked cars.

"They seem to enjoy it," said Jim Wolfe, designer of the Chucker and three-time Melon Propellin' veteran. "The crowd seems to grow and grow each year."

The Summer Sunset Festival continues today with the Summer Sunset Idol competition, the Battle of the Bands, a skateboard competition and the fireworks finale.