KEY WEST, Fla. — A Florida retiree has won the women’s division in Key West’s annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest — and accepted a marriage proposal from a fellow competitor. Seventy-year-old Mary Lou Smith impressed the judges Saturday with long blasts on the fluted, pink-lined shell. Other winners included Florida Keys resident Vinnie Marturano, who won the men’s division after blowing three-toned blasts and a song fragment. Conch shells have been used as signalling devices in the Florida Keys for centuries. Native-born islanders are called Conchs, and the Keys are nicknamed the Conch Republic.

Source: National Post March 03, 2018 22:30 UTC