Odor-ific!

Wasilla girl has smelliest sneakers in the country

CASEY RESSLER

Frontiersman Valley Life Editor

When a 7-year-old girl dreams of being famous, it's usually because she wants to become an actress or a singer or another profession that is in the limelight. But for Wasilla 7-year-old McKenna Dinkel, her fame came in the most unlikely of ways - the stench radiating from her sneakers.

McKenna won the national Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest in Montpelier, Vt., on March 21, and not only did she bring home a trophy and some cash, she made sure her trusty sneakers made the trip home as well. You don't want to lose good things like award-winning sneakers.

&#8220I've had them four years now,” she said while still wearing the shoes in her family's living room. &#8220I've worn them on the farm, in mud puddles, in rivers, and I even went to town in them.”

The shoes - which aren't actually sneakers but rather a water moccasin-style shoe - were hand-me-downs from her older brother, her mother, Lesley Dinkel said. The toes are completely torn out of them, the soles literally hanging by a thread. While their appearance is bad, it isn't as terrible as the smell, which national judges ranked as &#8220horrendous.”

McKenna had plenty of &#8220practice” in getting them stinky. Her family is known around Alaska for raising giant, award-winning cabbages, and McKenna wore the shoes without socks while helping out around the family farm. When asked to describe how they smelled, McKenna didn't hesitate.

&#8220Like rotting corn,” she said proudly. &#8220They really stink.”

McKenna's rise to smelly prominence began at the Eagle River Bear Paw Festival, where the local competition was held. Last year, McKenna's older sister, Kyla, won that event, and this year, McKenna added her own championship.

She was invited, along with seven other contestants from around the country, to the national competition in Vermont. There, each set of sneakers were graded from 1 to 5, with 1 being &#8220really horrendous” and 5 just being &#8220bad.” Categories included sole, tongue, heel, toe, laces/Velcro, eyelets and grommets, overall condition and smell. McKenna's shoes scored a 1 in every category except laces/Velcro, in which she got a three (because she didn't have any) and in smell, which was only graded a 2.

&#8220There was one other set of sneakers that smelled worse, but McKenna's shoes were in much worse condition overall,” said Lesley Dinkel.

Winning the competition brings with it enshrinement into the &#8220Odor-Eaters Hall of Fumes,” a $100 check for new sneakers, a trophy, a slew of Odor-Eaters products and a $500 savings bond. Still, just as you'd expect from a 7-year-old, the trip to Vermont was just as exciting as winning.

&#8220We went swimming, went to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, a Teddy Bear Factory,” the bubbling McKenna said. &#8220We had a lot of fun.”

Winning the contest has led to a little national notoriety for the family, and not because of the giant cabbages growing out back of the house. She was featured on the national news, and that brought an unlikely phone call.

&#8220A family called the house and said they saw it on the news, and that her daughter's name was McKenna Dinkel, too,” Lesley Dinkel said. &#8220She's from Minnesota. That was pretty weird.”