Pizza Mania helps food pantry, doubles in size since 2008

Clouds filled the sky and the threat of rain loomed, but the weather did not dampen the turnout at the third annual Pizza Mania – there was a tent just in case.

Too bad they kept running out of pizza.

Eleven local pizzerias participated in the event to benefit Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard. The restaurants competed in the categories of best cheese, specialty, pepperoni, breadsticks and best overall.

Several times throughout the event, the restaurants ran out of slices.
After 40 minutes, the first round of pizza was gone. More pies were delivered in 45-minute rotations to keep hot, fresh pizzas available, said Marc Uible, a senior member of Pizza Mania.

High turnout also forced organizers to cut off ticket sales at 6 p.m., even though the event was scheduled to end an hour later.

Pizza Mania organizers said they aimed to have 800 attendees this year – twice the attendance of the two previous years.

“We hit our goal,” Uible said.

Students and many others nearby flocked to Dunn Meadow as DJ Wildchild and live bands performed.

“You guys going to the pizza?” a gorilla driving a golf cart across Dunn Meadow said to passing students. “All right, jump in!”

Tables were full, and students flooded the grounds as they enjoyed a variety of pizza.

The main event, however, was under the tent. For $7, students could enter the tent and be surrounded by pizza and breadsticks – as well as pizzerias trying to influence their decisions.

“Don’t be fooled,” one man passing out pizza for Bucceto’s Smiling Teeth said.
“Everyone else sucks! Best pizza in Bloomington right here!”

Uible said for next year’s event, organizers want to start getting funding earlier in the year and also persuade more restaurants to participate.

The pizza competition attracted passersby, whether they were aware the event raised money for a good cause or not.

“I like pizza, and I saw it was $7,” sophomore Stephen Keefauver said.

Although Keefauver had attended the event in the past, he did not realize it was philanthropy.

Sophomore Matt Polanin, on the other hand, came to support the charity, although pizza was still a draw.

“All-you-can-eat pizza is good,” he said. “It’s a good idea.”

Polanin heard about the event through a YouTube video one of his teachers showed in class. Along with advertising via newspaper, radio and Facebook, the Pizza Mania group looked for “weird, eclectic” ways to advertise, Uible said.

For the YouTube video “Mystic Pizza,” the group members dressed up as superheroes to publicize the event and sent it to all their past and present instructors. Many characters from the video, including the panda and the villain, attended the event.

Though organizers knew their goal and were willing to dress as superheroes to reach it, they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into.

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” said Ricky Gonterman, a sophomore in Pizza Mania who said he will continue to plan the event in coming years. “It’s a great event. I really love working it.”