Emotional Local Man Retires From Carrying All Groceries In One Trip After 22-Year Career

TOLEDO, OH—Fighting back tears before an announced driveway crowd of 14 (nine neighbors, three relatives, one mail carrier and a dog listed as questionable), local man Dale Pruszynski, 47, retired Saturday from carrying all the groceries in one trip, ending a 22-year career with zero documented second trips.

"I gave this game everything I had," said Pruszynski, reading from an index card and citing a crushed loaf of bread and "the wear and tear of the forearm." "Last Tuesday the sourdough came out looking like a hockey puck. My body is telling me something."

Pruszynski retires with a career-high 19 bags, set in 2013, and the household record for most items in a single crook of the elbow (seven, including a rotisserie chicken), a mark analysts expect to stand. He wore the same half-zipped windbreaker for every carry since 2004, which he credited for "airflow at the handles."

"I was there for the egg thing," said wife Lorna Pruszynski, 45. "We don't talk about the egg thing." The 2016 egg incident finished with 18 eggs carried, 17 casualties and one survivor, which was later framed.

Longtime rival and brother-in-law Gary Fenwick, 51, of Maumee, who peaked at 14 bags and was widely criticized for using a tote with reinforced straps, called Pruszynski "a pure one-tripper. Old school. No cart, no wagon, no shame."

Attendance dipped to 11 during the Q&A. Two neighbors left at the nine-minute mark, and one returned with lawn chairs. Neighbor Denise Holcomb, 63, led all spectators with 41 claps.

At press time, Pruszynski had been spotted in the driveway eyeing a watermelon and a 24-pack of water, telling reporters he "just wants to see if it's still there."