For the second year in a row, The League of Women Voters of Piedmont sponsored a “candy-counting” contest at its voter registration and information table in Piedmont Park on the 4th of July.  Anyone is eligible to participate in this contest and this year’s jar included four different kinds of Hershey chocolates – making for a chocolate-lover’s dream come true!  The contest rules are very simple:  whoever comes closest to the actual number of candies wins them all, regardless of whether the guess is above or below the actual amount (no Price is Right rules in this contest)!!

Several dozen entries were submitted over the course of 2-1/2 hours and the winning guess came from Jeffrey Kobal, an incoming Freshman at Piedmont High School.  Jeff guessed that there were 175 Hershey candies in the jar when, in fact, there were a total of 177, meaning he was off by only 2.  When asked what his “technique” was, he explained that he simply counted the number of candies in the top layer (he guessed 25) and then estimated the number of layers in the jar (he guessed 8 but then reduced it by 1 to arrive at 7).  And as anyone who has studied math knows:  7x25 = 175!

Interestingly enough, the next closest guess was 189, which was arrived using the exact same technique.  In this case, however, the contestant counted 27 candies in the top layer and estimated that there were 7 layers in the jar (7x27 = 189).

The individual guesses that were submitted ranged from a low of 3 to a high of 642, a range that was wide enough, as the saying goes: “to drive a truck through!!”

Thanks to all who participated in this year’s contest and please remember to stop by the League table at future 4th of July events as well as at the annual Harvest Festival (which will be coming up on Sunday, September 30th).