By: Jessica Truong

October is an eventful month: it marks the beginning of fall, making everything taste like a spicy pumpkin, preparing for Halloween, raising awareness for breast cancer, and appreciating pizza. Yes, you heard me: October is also known as pizza appreciation month! A whole month dedicated to appreciating a food designed to please taste buds.

Some order it online, others order it by phone, but for those who are ambitious, some order it ready-to-go. Of course, for die-hard fans, and almost every American in the United States, every month is practically pizza month.

According to the interwebs, National Pizza Month began in the 1980’s and became a trend by the founder of Pizza Today magazine, Gerry Durnell. What started as a simple business move became a well-known holiday that is sure to stay true for years to come.

Getting tired of that mediocre Mabee Commons pizza? Head on over to 600 degrees and celebrate the fabulous month in style! 600 degrees is a local pizzeria located on the square that is renowned by many of the locals of Georgetown. In fact, it was voted as best pizza and brewery in Georgetown.

Make a trip solo or with a group; the menu offers both single slices and whole pizzas, for fair prices at that. I have been there a few times myself and have never been disappointed with their service or their quality.

I still remember my first experience as if it were yesterday: walking into the cozy restaurant buzzing with chatter and clinking glasses filled with freshly brewed beer, the aroma of brick-oven pizzas smacking me in my senses, and a full staff behind the kitchen tossing dough up in the air as each order continued to pop up on their queue.

The atmosphere was absolutely wonderful and the servers make sure your first experience will be just as great as the other times you will visit, assuming you will visit again because it’s just that good!

Think you know everything there is to know about pizza? Well, have you heard about the World Pizza Champions? Yes, this is also a thing. It’s like the Olympics, but for different challenges that involve making pizza. There are five competitive events that participants partake in: Freestyle Acrobatic Dough Tossing, Fastest Dough [making], Largest Dough Stretch, Fastest Pizza Box Folding, and a Pizza Triathalon.

They have their own website (www.worldpizzachampions.com) that has all of the results and records from previous events along with teams and individuals who have competed.

This awesome event happens annually in the spring during the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tony Gemignani is a twelve time pizza champion from the California area and holds many titles such as President of the World Pizza Champions, official U.S. Ambassador of Nepolitan Pizza by the city of Naples, is a Master Instructor in the U.S., and certifies chefs around the world for their skills with pizza-making.

Who knew there was so much more to pizza than just pepperoni and cheese?

October is only 31 days, so make use of your time and skip the spicy pumpkin flavored foods for a slice of heaven!