Vying for the Watermelon Thump Crown

Well done! I'm 2nd generation Texicana and I know all about the Festival "Queeneria". San Antonio has Ms. Fiesta, Ms. Soul, Ms. Latina, Ms. Ft Sam, etc. etc. every year. But the "big crowns" are for those that have parents or grandparents that raise the big bucks; those that have big money roots here in town. They get to ride on the fancy parade floats and wear the beautiful gloves to wave at all the young girls that will never have a chance. It's all about the money honey.

The contest winner is not determined by ethnicity or what side of the tracks you live on; it is about the work these beautiful young women put in. Face it, we are in Texas where the majority of people are hispanic as most are multi cultural. Let's stop playing the race card and give credit where credit is due. The winner did the work better than the others, obviously she was most popular voted by the public fair and square.

YES, Luling was once known as the toughest town in Texas. It hasn’t Always been Watermelon. We are a big railroad and oil field community! You mix railroad and oil field boom literally growing from 500 people to overnight 5,000 overnight, in 1922, you get rough characters living in tents. Insert gun slinging, brothels and more. Yes. ROUGH. As far as Thump History: In 1954, Hermon Allen, principal of the Luling Elementary School, proposed the idea of a celebration to honor the growers and promote the Luling watermelon market. A contest was held to name the event and the winner was a young man from Luling High School, Mr. Carol Ferguson. Of course, you Thump a melon to see if ifs ripe. If you’re passing through Luling, June 22nd, drop by the Watermelon Thump Pavilion and Vote for Thump Queen. These girls work their tails off, pulling themselves out of their shells, getting out of their comfort zones and visiting with everyone in the community. Growing in the process. The documentary doesn’t show the full picture and of course left out several Latina/Hispanic girls that have won in the past years. Not sure how they missed them... 🤔 Guess it didn’t fit the narrative they weren’t going with. We are a small community, we love our hometown. This doesn’t show Luling or Thump in the fullest! All I can say is come on down and experience it for yourself! 💕🍉💕 Seed Spitting, Watermelon Eating, Queen Crowing, Rides, Live Music & more. P.s. and grab some of the BEST BBQ in Texas!

So, the NYTimes visits a small town in Texas (which the paper literally despises, for reasons I cannot fathom), and the 'journalists' try to goad those interviewed into making this whole thing about race (Hispanics can be white, brown, black or whatever color their parents are). It appears it is the NYTimes and very far left journalists and 'acitivists' that are working hard to divide the country. Shame on you. Go for it town of Luling and whomever runs for Watermelon Thump Queen. Glad you are having fun in spite of the nonsense coming for a very small minority that make up NYTimes writers and interviewers!

And for the best Mexican food in Luling go to “Meme’s”. I was sad they did not show parts of the seed spitting contest. It is hilarious.

Extraordinary growth? This primitive ritual of selection(on what basis? For what role?) is unlikely to encourage growth and quite likely to reinforce narrow and restrictive attitudes and beliefs..maladaptive to the world beyond this small corner.

Luling is the town where my grandparents, great grandparents and great great grandparents come from. I visited Luling in 2017 and we also talked about the Thump Queen signs we saw after eating at City BBQ. It was incredible to see and hear a modern story about the town.

How is it possible that you did a documentary and an article without explaining the origin of the name -- how on earth did they come up with Watermelon Thump Queen? (and, yes. I know one thumps watermelons to see if they're ripe) I was hoping the young women would have to demonstrate their prowess at thumping fruit. Very disappointed.

The contestants were brave to share themselves and their desire to be elected. For outsiders, it is easy to judge other cultural expressions. However, one of the takeaways of this emotionally moving film is Celina and Jessalyn's desire for education, resourcefulness, and self-empowerment. May they both shine regardless of not being the watermelon thump queen. I'm impressed by their strength, self-awareness, and life desires.

What wonderful photography and filming. A unique look at a small Texas town and its character. I loved that the focus was not on the "winner", but the contestant girls - who they are. Yes, the pageant is a throwback to a more sexist culture, but these girls are strong, smart and self aware - not victims. They are going places.

Texas watermelons are too sweet.

The sexualization of young women by a sexist culture we're supposed to bring here. How lovely. Not.

Hello, I am the 63 watermelon thump queen. I’m shocked to see my home town tradition turned into another race story. Now a days these things don’t surprise me. It makes me sad to see how they portray our tradition and town. It is so much more than this. All of the people who keep this tradition going (for free) deserve a better story. I’m sorry to these people. I love my town and our traditions. And anyone is welcome no matter your race. But I will say they did get the bar bq part right. Best in the world hands down. #LulingTx

The best watermelon festival is in Bill Clinton's hometown, Hope, Arkansas.

There can inly be one queen of the toughest tiwn in Texas and that title will always belong to Sandy Squirrel.

Most of the comments I have read here are fixated on Thumping watermelons and Bar B Q. Neither is what this piece is about and if you watched it you would know that. Our country is so divided right now. I found it interesting that a flippant anti Democrats proTrump comment was added in at the end. The look on the one Latina’s face after he said it was priceless and worth a thousand words!

Toughest town in Texas? I don't think so. It's a good thing they aren't in Channelview. In Channelview, they take their high school royalty very seriously. And no one more so than Wanda Webb Holloway who, in 1991, attempted to hire a hit man to "off" the neighbor girl. This, Wanda theorized, would help her daughter more certainly make cheerleader at Alice Johnson High. As profiled by Bill Kurtis years ago on American Justice, Wanda made the mistake of trying to hire a Dollar Store hit man, her brother-in-law, who decided to ring up the Sheriff rather than to celebrity apprentice as a hit man. Wanda got ten years, but was let out after only six months. They were sure her intentions were good. In Luling they might vote early and vote often, but I'm sure the winner will be gracious to the loser, and vice versa.

Such lovely, lovely young women--Celina Hernandez and Jessalyn Schuelke! Each definitely has earned her crown. Marvelous job, congratulations to both: winning on beauty, poise, talent, hard work, determination, and especially character. Thanks to Farihah Zama and Jeff Reichert for giving these young women and the others profiled in the documentary a platform and us viewers insight and appreciation for the ups and downs of living in a small town and what it means to achieve a dream. I'm grateful, moved and inspired.

Texas - like a whole 'nother country. Great local food to be found in regions of the state, very odd local customs.

I’ve lived in Texas most of my life and I’ve never heard Luling referred to as “the toughest town in Texas”. Watermelon capital of Texas, yes. Looking forward to watching the video when I get home!

Now this is a folk thing that makes sense, because it seems so humorous and Capra-ish. Before reading this enjoyable story, I took the Brexit and Halliday perhaps too seriously. The slants of the three articles are folksy journalism, however my semi condescending, half wit characterization feels capturing the cultures of Britain, France, and quaint Republic of Texas. These are the Times of our life that's good, not dry, starring Jimmy Stewart Of course I am anti Brexit btw, and despise the demagogue populists taking over governments as the NYT alarmingly reports sadly/awesomely. The heads of Russia and China are demagogic too.

Beautiful American story. Work hard to win but be gracious in the end. There will always be two sides of the track and always a way to find which side is yours.

I love the idea of involving teens in political races. This will be an empowering trend that we need to see more of.

Thank you for a wonderful story. This made my day!

Nope, Lockhart has the best barbecue in Texas. The best in Lockhart is Black's. A short drive from Austin.

So many festivals in south Texas. I'm partial to the Strawberry Festival in Poteet!!

A true Game of Thrones playing out in Luling Texas.....Who needs the Mother of Dragons when you have the Watermelon Thump Queen? --- a great snapshot of Small town Texas.

All in all this video was very moving. I knew Luling was famous for watermelons, but I wish I had known about their bbq and sausage. That part of Texas definitely has a German flavor. Luling is not far from the Shiner brewery.

Nice story! However, I didn’t see one girl thump a watermelon. I was in the store today thumping watermelons. Two girls, cashiers, asked me how. I said, “If you get a hollow sound the melon is not ripe. If you get a solid sound the melon is ripe and full of juice.” Maybe Luling needs to crown the Best Watermelon Thumper! I’m from West Texas where they know how to thump watermelons.

Thrilled to see whatever these ambitious young girls can use to help them find their strength!

God, I miss the BBQ in Luling.

Wise words: "That's something I can change. But not here." Thanks for bringing this to us!

Only Texas would have a town that bills itself as the toughest town in Texas.

Apparently, someone newly connected to the local GOP in Luling, a young fellow named Yuri, misunderstood the contest name, probably due to limited english language exposure. Yuri generated flyers and signs which were distributed throughout Luling referring to the Watermelon Trump Queen contest. Favoring a the third-generation Mexican-American candidate, the flyers targeted Hispanic voters, alleging that one of the contestant's family member's immigration status was suspect. Lawyer's and activist's have descended on sleepy Luling and the Proud Boy's have dispatched units that have set-up headquarters at the Motel 6 on the edge of town.

Can’t wait to see this! Stopped in Luling on the drive out to Hill Country and saw these signs everywhere. We were so intrigued. The town smells like a gas station.

“Watermelon Thump”. Only in Texas (thank heaven).

This is actually a very cute tradition in a small town. (I'm impressed that NYT even learned about it.) The only thing that is disappointing is that the video obsesses about "race" and seems to try and make people in town look like racists. (Note that the interviewers seem to prod people on this issue.) For example, the article refers to "Latinas" which is a silly and arbitrary word that is not even really used in Texas. Life is not so black and white, and many people are to some degree Hispanic and/or European. Even the video notes that a "Hispanic" watermelon thump queen was crowned in 1978. It's easier and probably more accurate to think of people as locals or not. Luling is a good town inhabited by good people. And the barbecue is worth it. Apart from the issue raised above, well done.

I might agree that this is a wholesome story of immigration, assimilation and 'making-it-in America", however, I'd be inclined to return to Mexico. I'm further not sure America deserves these immigrants or spectacular people.

Did I miss something? It was an interesting short film, quite enjoyable to get inside this small town's life - but nowhere does it explain why it's called "Watermelon Thump". I know one can 'thump' a watermelon to test for ripeness - is it based on this? If so, why?

americana at it's best

Refreshingly candid and well put together. Thank you for sharing these women's insights. Would love to see more mini-docs like this - especially those that document youth development in rural environments.

Not really into beauty queens, but you totally made the right call on the sausage. Long live Luling City Market!

Luling is hardly the “toughest town in Texas”, but City Market’s sausage will take 5 years off you life and worth every second.

I'm confused. You thump on a watermelon and listen to hear if it's juicy inside, and ready to eat. Can't they just settle this by having them test melons and see which girl gets the most right?

What a beautiful little story, beautifully shot and told.