Dieters Enjoy Light Moment as Weighty Rivalry Ends

Chatsworth High School staff members who used helium-filled balloons for a last-minute lift won a diet contest that was settled Wednesday at a truck scale.

Teachers, clerks and counselors from a 25-member team called “Dorothy’s Dumplings” stepped onto the scale and learned that they had jointly shed 210 pounds to beat rival campus workers from a team dubbed “Ed’s Epicureans.”

The losers of the 10-week competition will serve the winners a fattening Mexican potluck luncheon at school Tuesday.

Members of school secretary Dorothy Rennpferd’s winning team lost an average of eight pounds each, although campus computer operator Diane DiFonzo acknowledged losing 27 pounds for the group “by keeping my mouth shut” during work breaks.

115-Pound Loss

The 23 members of teacher Ed Ash’s team averaged a five-pound loss each for a total of 115 pounds.

School workers said they organized the contest as an incentive to shape up for the summer. While dieting, teachers from both sides tempted their opponents by circulating mouth-watering recipes and heckling diners in the cafeteria line and faculty dining room.

Wednesday’s weigh-in at a Plummer Street recycling center’s 70-foot-long scale was in marked contrast to the March 27 start of the contest.

During their first collective trip to the scale, the Dumplings had loaded themselves with heavy jewelry, last-minute pastry snacks and thick marble paperweights in their pockets. Their combined weight was 4,541 pounds.

The Epicureans had countered by hiding steel chains and school-locker combination padlocks under their coats. Their starting weight was 3,930 pounds.

Kicked Off Shoes

This time, the Dumplings wore light clothing and kicked off their shoes before stepping on the scale with helium balloons tied to their arms.

“We don’t feel guilty about the balloons--not after what the other side did with the chains,” explained school clerk Mary Ann Giacobbe, a Dumpling who lost seven pounds.

“They think the balloons will lift them up, but they’re just full of hot air,” scoffed Epicurean Ash as he ducked behind a car to remove his trousers.

The Dumplings gasped when Ash, who teaches handicapped pupils, emerged in striped boxer shorts and then began removing them . Underneath, however, he wore jogging shorts.

Several teachers from each team who were unable to attend the mid-morning weigh-in were weighed individually later by school nurse Phyllis Robb. Although Robb was a member of the Epicureans, she pledged her tallies would be honest.

Dumpling members said they had planned to serve high-calorie lasagna and whipped-cream pie at next week’s luncheon if they had lost the contest.

But there were more immediate concerns Wednesday for members of both teams.

“The first thing I’m gonna eat at lunch today is a big piece of pie,” said Susan Lieberman, an instructional aide who lost five pounds by avoiding such treats.

“Me, I’m celebrating the end of this with a hot fudge sundae,” said Gail Aldrich, a special education teacher who lost five pounds.