Justin Herring Memorial Blizzard Battle brings friendly competition to Gulfport on Miracle Treat Day

GULFPORT, Miss. (WXXV) — Gulfport’s Dairy Queen celebrated Miracle Treat Day in a unique way on Thursday.

Members of the Gulfport Fire Department and Gulfport Police Department packed into the small restaurant chain for their fourth-annual Blizzard Battle.

It’s a unique take on Miracle Treat Day, a nationwide effort by Dairy Queen to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. In the Gulfport store’s case, donations were made to Manning Family Children’s in New Orleans.

“[The money] goes towards the greatest area of need at our hospital, so it helps all of our kids,” Ashley Hebert, the Children’s Miracle Network Specialist at Manning Family Children’s, explained. “Sometimes that means helping a program, sometimes that means helping get certain equipment, but it really helps our greatest area of need at our hospital.”

In the battle, five members of each department faced off to see who could eat a 32-ounce Blizzard the fastest. Gulfport Fire ultimately took the team title in dominating fashion, led by individual champion William Wycoff.

“It’s really just about going straight down the gullet, honestly,” Wycoff said as he shared his strategy. “Don’t let it hit the roof of your mouth and just eat as fast as possible.”

This year’s event had even more meaning.

It’s now named in honor of Justin Herring, who passed away earlier this year. Herring was a beloved member of the fire department and won the battle in each of its first three years. His family was present for the Blizzard Battle, wearing t-shirts in his memory.

“Our family’s very appreciative of everything that they’ve done for us,” Herring’s sister Marissa Orr said. “The fire department, police department, Dairy Queen especially… it’s very special to us, to our family.”

This now marks the fourth time in four years that the Gulfport Fire Department has won, and it wasn’t close. All five firemen finished their Blizzards before even one police officer could finish his. It’s safe to say that Herring was on his fellow firefighters’ minds throughout the competition.

“It feels really good to be the champion, especially since it’s now honoring Justin,” Wycoff explained. “Justin was obviously… he was always number one. He finished before anybody else. We’d be halfway done with ours and then he would already be done, so he’s definitely… he was the champion.”

Meanwhile, the Gulfport Police Department has a lot of work to do before the next Blizzard Battle. George Moore, who has owned the Dairy Queen on Pass Road for 35 years, had one thing to say to the officers after their lopsided defeat.

“I’m going to give them a challenge this year. You need to practice, and you can only practice by coming in and getting a Blizzard and eating it as fast as you can,” Moore said, laughing.

May next year’s Justin Herring Memorial Blizzard Battle bring smiles, raise money and allow for even more friendly competition.