American Fork boy's sneakers reek out a national win

The Vermont verdict is in: 7-year-old Joshua Boothe stinks.

At least he does every time he laces up his fish-reeking, foul-smelling shoes.

A panel of four shoe-whiffing judges at Odor-Eaters' 34th annual Rotten Sneaker Contest have proclaimed the American Fork youngster's pair of rancid sneakers the worst of the worst.

"They picked up my shoes and said, 'Oh, that's stinky stuff,' " Joshua said, recounting his experience in Montpelier, Vt., last week where Oder-Eaters staged the contest.

He earned his position at the national smell-off after winning one of Odor-Eaters' eight regional competitions. Joshua's shoes apparently smelled the ripest of any entered at the regional tourney at the Utah State Fair in September.

Ever since the fair dubbed the boy a blue-ribbon victor years ago in a diaper derby, he has bothered his parents about going back to "win more ribbons," his mother, Michaela Boothe, said with a sigh. "So I looked up what was going on."

By the time she discovered the regional reek-off at the fair, Joshua had naturally and unknowingly commenced what would become a winning pungent performance.

"I went fishing and stepped in fish mud," Joshua said matter-of-factly. "Then when we cleaned (the fish), I stepped on their guts."

The tree-climbing kid also admitted to enjoying one afternoon last summer squashing overripe, rotten apricots between his sneakers' worn treads while helping his mom pick the fruit for baking.

Add it all up and you get an olfactory sensation with enough punch to churn your stomach, his father, Allen Boothe, said with a laugh.

"One lady took a sniff (at the national competition) and was still sick 10 minutes later," he said.

Donning shoes with enough kick to stun Chuck Norris is apparently worth more than gross playground bragging rights: Odor-Eaters cut Joshua a $2,500 check for his well-seasoned sneakers.

And besides bankrolling the savings bond, the boy's rank soles earned him a trophy, an all-expenses-paid trip to New York and a generous supply of Odor-Eater products, which includes stench-gobbling socks, powders and insoles.

The company immediately flew the family from Vermont to New York for three days of touring and media interviews.

"I'm going to put the money in the bank and get ready for college," the third-grader said in a mature tone. Then he relapsed and fell back into, "And guess what? Maybe I'll get an iPod, too, with the 'Star Wars' song on it."

For now, Joshua gets to keep his odor-steaming, hole-riddled shoes, but the putrid pair will soon be enshrined in the Odor-Eaters Hall of Fumes in Vermont.

They will sit in decay next to Katharine Tuck's stinky sneakers. Tuck, a then-13-year-old Tooele resident, won the national competition in 2007, and her brother, Lane, then 10, won the regional competition held in Utah in 2008 for his grimy, caramel-colored suede kicks.

Concerned about her reputation as a caretaker, and perhaps nervous that she might be required to open her door to Department of Child and Family Services officials, Joshua's mother said he's actually clean — even in his belly button and behind his ears.

"I feel a little weird about the whole thing, kind of embarrassed," she said. "I promise we're doing OK. He has a new pair of shoes."

E-MAIL: jhancock@desnews.com