Team's design shatters record at Sunset fest

Taking in his second Melon Propellin' contest Saturday at Lake in the Hills' Sunset Festival, Shawn Moorman offered an observation.

"It's much more competitive (than 2007)," the Lake in the Hills man said. "It's exciting to see the new designs and ideas people come up with to basically do the same thing."

And that thing was to launch an 8-pound watermelon as far as possible.

Going into Saturday, the previous best distance was 451 feet, set by the Choctaw Chucker in 2008.

But a team from Indiana that constructed a large white cannon-looking contraption that used slingshot technology instead of a traditional catapult smashed the long-distance mark in the same fashion that the watermelons went splat.

The Fahrfunflinger shot a watermelon 632 feet, besting the highest mark of the day by the five other teams by more than 200 feet.

"That's gonna take a while to measure," the contest announcer said.

Laurie Franke-Polz, whose husband Ric built the machine with his friend Jim Murray, said the Fahrfunflinger is all about fun, even if it keeps Ric wrapped up in the summer.

"We just love it," she said. "It's a lot of fun to do. The more fun, the better."

The Fahrfunflinger drew plenty of "oohs" and "ahhs" from the audience, including Patrick and Diane Fanella.

The Lake in the Hills couple lives around the corner from Sunset Park and usually goes camping over Labor Day weekend. Instead, they took their five grandchildren to the festival.

"It's something different," Diane Fanella said of the melon contest. "I've never seen this before. The kids like it."

What about taking them to the carnival later for some amusement park rides?

"They have parents for that," Patrick Fanella said with a smile.

The festival continues through today in Sunset Park, Miller and Albrecht roads.

Melon: Previous best distance was 451 feet