This is Kasala Kasala from the Macey's in West Jordan, and as you can tell, he is VERY excited to be the 2008 Utah State Best Bagger.
There were 38 baggers in this year's competition from Macey's, Dan's, Dick's, Lin's, Harmon's, and Winegar's. Just so everyone knows what this is all about, it's much more complicated than just bagging. They are judged on 1- Speed (You want to go fast), 2- Weight Distribution (You want each bag to weigh the same), 3- Bag Building Technique (Cans on the bottom, boxes on the sides, no glass touching, no chips/bread/eggs smashed, no bags torn or falling over, etc.), and 4-Appearance and Attitude (You should be in dress code and excited to be there!)
Everone bagged in plastic, and then in paper, and then their scores were added together to get the winner. Emily Call from Sandy Macey's came in second and Jenette Solis from Draper Harmon's came in third. Emily will go on to the National competition in February because Kasala leaves on his mission in December.
For all of you who don't care, that's just too bad because this was a lot of work and is what has been consuming most of my blogging time for the last 2 months. So deal with it! (And yes, that is me in the background. I was an official point calculator and was hoping to avoid getting in any news shots, but clearly failed!)