{"id":76296,"date":"2026-04-30T11:53:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/?p=76296"},"modified":"2026-04-30T11:53:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:53:01","slug":"j-c-newman-cigars-celebrates-founders-day-with-1200-visitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/j-c-newman-cigars-celebrates-founders-day-with-1200-visitors\/","title":{"rendered":"J.C. Newman Cigars Celebrates Founder\u2019s Day with 1,200 Visitors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last Saturday, J.C. Newman Cigar Co. welcomed 1,200 visitors to its historic El Reloj cigar factory in Tampa, Florida for its annual Founder\u2019s Day. This year, Founder\u2019s Day celebrated the 131st anniversary of the founding of J.C. Newman and the 140th anniversary of the founding of Tampa\u2019s Ybor City historic cigar district.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Founder\u2019s Day is an annual free, family-friendly festival. J.C. Newman opens up its historic cigar factory for free tours and offers cigars for the throwback price of a nickel each.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the cigar workers came to Tampa 140 years ago and made Tampa world-famous as \u2018Cigar City\u2019 and the \u2018Fine Cigar Capital of the World,\u2019 they brought their families with them,\u201d said fourth-generation owner Drew Newman. \u201cTherefore, it is only fitting to celebrate the anniversary of our family business and Ybor City in a big, family-friendly way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Founder\u2019s Day featured exhibits and participation from the Tampa Baseball Museum, Tampa Bay Sun FC, University of South Florida, MOSI (Museum of Science and Innovation), Visit Tampa Bay, Centro Asturiano, and Tampa Bay Tours, highlighting the rich culture and history of the community. Guests enjoyed a diverse lineup of local vendors including Craving Donuts, Station House Barbeque, Bread on the Bay (The Official Cuban Sandwich Eating Challenge Sponsor), Los Chapos Tacos, Popsicles and Dreams, BarrieHaus Beer Co., Southern Nutrition, 8 Paws Approved, Bookends mobile bookstore, and Michelle Sawyer Art, along with entertainment from Fast Breaks Executive Entertainment. The day was rounded out with engaging activities such as games, face painting, balloon art, and plenty of food and drinks for all to enjoy.<\/p>\n<p>A highlight of the afternoon was the third annual Cuban Sandwich Eating Challenge featuring Miki Sudo and Nick Wehry, the fifth and sixth ranked competitive eaters in the world.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Wehry teamed up with Creative Loafing Editor-in-Chief Ray Roa to eat a combined 50 Cuban sandwiches in 8 minutes, defeating Sudo and professional wrestler Tom Pestock who ate a combined 32 Cuban sandwiches.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCuban Sandwiches have fed Tampa\u2019s cigar workers for more than a century,\u201d said Newman.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe Cuban Sandwich was created by the immigrant groups who built Ybor City.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The Spanish brought the ham. The Cubans provided the pork. The Italians included salami, and the Germans added Swiss cheese and mustard. The ingredients are then pressed together, like the melting pot of cultures Ybor City is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Next year\u2019s Founder\u2019s Day is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, April 24, 2027. With Elaine\u2019s Restaurant, Stanford\u2019s Cigar Club, and the Inn at El Reloj opening later this year, J.C. Newman expects Founder\u2019s Day to be even bigger next year.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>J.C. Newman\u2019s historic El Reloj cigar factory welcomes visitors on weekdays to for guided factory tours, cigar rolling classes, and events.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>To learn more and book your experience, visit jcnewman.com.<\/p>\n<p>Results from the Third Annual Cuban Sandwich Eating Challenge:<br \/>\nNick Wehry ate 37 Cuban Sandwiches in 8 minutes<br \/>\nMiki Sudo ate 23 Cuban Sandwiches in 8 minutes<br \/>\nRay Roa ate 13 Cuban Sandwiches in 8 minutes<br \/>\nTom Pestock ate 9 Cuban Sandwiches in 8 minutes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Professional competitive eater Nick Wehry set a new world record eating 37 Cuban Sandwiches in 8 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":76297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[53,49,2808,44],"tags":[6635],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76296"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76299,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76296\/revisions\/76299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}