It is not often that a person can view an important religious artifact at his or her own state fair. Fortunately for me and my family, that experience came last weekend when we were blessed to be within feet of an item so sacred, it makes The Holy Grail look like a 44oz Big Gulp cup. Behold, the Blessed Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

The sandwich was cooked over eleven years ago by one Diana Duyser. After grilling the sandwich, Diana took one bite out of it and noticed the Virgin Mary staring back at her. She immediately placed the sandwich in a clear plastic box filled with cotton balls, where it remained for a decade. Last year, Diana sold the sandwich on eBay, where it was purchased by GoldenPalace.com, an online gambling site known for its quirky eBay purchases.

There’s Diana, standing next to the sandwich which has been relocated into a highly protective briefcase. Diana now works for GoldenPalace.com, touring the nation and making public appearances. But why on earth would Diana Duyser and her Blessed Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich be at the Oklahoma State Fair?

They were on hand for the IFOCE (International Federation of Competitive Eating) sanctioned Grilled Cheese eating contest. The contest we watched pitted five local radio DJ’s against each other. The rules of the contest were to see how many grilled cheese sandwiches these guys could eat in five minutes. The first one to nine wins.

And, they’re off! I’ll go ahead and spoil the ending for you. “Pork”, a local radio DJ weighing in “at a svelt 385”, finished his nine sandwiches so quickly that they got him two more and he ate them too.

There’s Pork with his championship cup. The rest of the time at the fair, we just wandered around and did, you know, “fair” stuff. I have to say it was a pretty nice day, and deep down inside I secretly think the Blessed Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich may have had something to do with it.