J.C.纽曼雪茄公司是美国本土经营时间最悠久的家族式雪茄制造商，今年是它成立129周年。该公司邀请了社会公众一起参加庆祝活动。5月18日，周六，上午11点开始，到下午3点结束，活动在佛罗里达州坦帕市的纽曼公司总部举行。

家族的第四代经营者德鲁·纽曼（Drew Newman）告诉记者，延续我们家族在美国手工制作优质雪茄129年的传统是一种真正的荣幸。如今，我们像曾祖父100多年前那样手工卷制优质雪茄。我们的目标是以同样的生产方式再经历下一个129年，下一个四代人的历史。

活动是免费开放的，可以参观时钟雪茄厂、雪茄博物馆、草坪游戏，享受现场的餐车服务、现场的音乐表演。

活动还安排了一项吃热狗比赛，著名的饥饿夫妻搭档也来了，他们是三木须藤（Miki Sud）、尼克·韦里（Nick Wehry），其中三木须藤是某吃热狗大赛的七届冠军，她有一项女子世界记录，十分钟内吃下了48.5个热狗。尼克·韦里也创造过多项世界记录，在一次世界竞吃大赛中获得第四名。他们将和纽曼公司的员工以及其他参赛者一起比赛，在八分钟内吃下尽可能多的古巴式热狗。这可是坦帕的雪茄工人们的传统午餐。

德鲁·纽曼说，一个世纪之前，在坦帕的伊博尔（雪茄区），是一个融合语言、文化、宗教和食物的大熔炉。古巴式三明治正是代表了这种多样性。西班牙人带来了火腿，古巴人带来了猪肉，意大利人喜欢加入意大利腊肠，德国人则加入瑞士奶酪和泡菜。所有这些食材裹在一起，就像坦帕的历史悠久的雪茄社区大熔炉一样。

现场也出售雪茄，纽曼公司以每支5美分的价格出售桑切斯和哈雅（Sanchez y Haya cigars）雪茄，这是1886年在坦帕卷制的第一款雪茄的复刻品。你买了雪茄后，可以直接在一块临时设置的户外区域的露天雪茄休息室品尝这款雪茄。

1895年，匈牙利移民，纽曼家族的先辈，朱利叶斯·凯撒·纽曼（Julius Caeser Newman）创立了纽曼雪茄公司。他向家人借了50美元，在克利夫兰的家后面开了一家一个人的雪茄厂。最终，它发展成克利夫兰最大的雪茄厂。1954年，纽曼公司迁址到坦帕。如今，纽曼公司拥有的雪茄品牌包括：砖房（Brick House）、钻冠（Diamond Crown）、天使奎斯塔（Cuesta-Rey）。该公司在坦帕的时钟雪茄厂还生产美洲（The American）雪茄，这是一款只使用美国种植的烟叶卷制的产品线。

J.C. Newman Cigar Co., the oldest family-owned premium cigarmaker in the United States, is celebrating its 129th anniversary and the company is inviting the public to join in the festivities. The company’s Founder’s Day celebration takes place this Saturday, May 18, from 11am to 3pm at J.C. Newman headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

“It is a true privilege continuing my family’s 129-year tradition of handcrafting premium cigars in the United States,” fourth-generation owner Drew Newman told Cigar Aficionado. “Today, we hand roll premium cigars just like my great-grandfather did a century ago, and our one-and-only goal is to hand roll cigars the same way for another four generations and 129 years.”

The event is free and open to the public with attractions such as tours of the El Reloj cigar factory and museum, lawn games, food trucks, live music and more. One of the events will be a take on the hot dog eating competition with a Tampa twist: The Cuban Sandwich Eating Challenge. Among the contestants will be The Hungry Couple Miki Sudo and Nick Wehry. Sudo is the seven-time winner of Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, holding the women’s world record of eating 48.5 hot dogs in ten minutes. Wehry has multiple world records under his belt and is ranked as No. 4 in the world of competitive eating. The pair will be joined by local celebrity Drew Garabo of 102.5 The Bone and members of the J.C. Newman staff to eat as many Cuban sandwiches—the traditional lunch of Tampa cigar workers—as they can in eight minutes.

“A century ago, Tampa’s Ybor City cigar district was a melting pot of languages, cultures, religions, and foods,” Newman says. “The Cuban sandwich represents this diversity. The ham came from the Spaniards. The Cubans brought the pork. The Italians added the salami while the Germans added the Swiss cheese and pickles. All of these ingredients are pressed together just like the melting pot that was Tampa’s historic cigar community.”

As to be expected at an event held at a cigar factory, there will be cigars on sale. J.C. Newman will be selling Sanchez y Haya cigars, a recreation of the first cigars rolled in Tampa in 1886, for the era-appropriate price tag of just 5 cents apiece. An outdoor area has been designated as an open-air cigar lounge for those who wish to light up their purchases.

J.C. Newman was founded in 1895 by Hungarian immigrant Julius Caeser Newman, who borrowed $50 from his family to open a one-man cigar factory behind his home in Cleveland. It eventually became the largest cigar factory in the city. In 1954 the company relocated to Tampa and today its portfolio includes brands such as Brick House, Diamond Crown and Cuesta-Rey. The El Reloj factory in Tampa is where the company rolls The American, a line of cigars that utilizes only tobaccos grown in the United States for its blend.

J.C. Newman’s main parking lot will be closed during this event, but the overflow lots at 1509 E. Columbus Drive, 1602 E. Columbus Drive and 1530 East 15th Avenue will be available to park.