The Food & Shops at LaGuardia Airport and the Famous Famiglia pizza company are hosting a Pizza Eating Contest at New York’s LaGuardia airport next Thursday, November 19, 2009 at noon on the lower level of the Central Terminal.

Contestants will be six specially-chosen airport employees vying to win cash prizes topping out at $1,000.

No matter the winner, the contest will generate a contribution of $1,000 for City Harvest, New York City’s food rescue organization.  There will also be a canned food drive going on that day at the airport.

So if you’re traveling through LGA next Thursday, go cheer those folks on.

And if you travel through LGA a lot, sign-up for the e-mail newsletter sent out by the Food & Shops at LaGuardia’s Central Terminal Building. The holidays are coming right up and they usually have some great discounts and specials.

The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) includes a pre-recorded sample of the chit-chat and promises that you’ll get to hear the live feed when you visit Founder’s Plaza, the airport’s well-appointed viewing area.

Want to hear what’s going on at, say, your airport?  There’s a good chance that the air traffic control communications are feeding in real-time on LiveATC.net. It’s got a live feed from DFW airport and keeps adding more airports all the time.

On Sunday here at Stuck at the Airport, we take a look at some of the fun, local, inexpensive and, ideally, somewhat offbeat things for sale at airports around the country.

This week, the folks at General Mitchell International Airport (MKE)  in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sent over some suggestions:

First up: Jelly Belly candy.

Sure, these treats are are  for sale in lots of places, but you have a good excuse to buy ‘em here because the Jelly Belly Center – a candy warehouse with a factory tour – is in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, about a half hour away from the airport.

No time for the tour? Check out the on-line Jelly Bean Museum of Bean Art, which is filled with big, colorful jelly bean portraits of Elvis (three versions!), James Dean, Larry King, Laurel & Hardy, George Clooney, Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II, and others. The gallery also includes this jelly bean portrait of Amelia Earhart:

OK, back to Milwaukee’s Mitchell Airport and Souvenir Sunday…

Not a sweets fan? Well, cheese and beer are big in Milwaukee, so it makes sense that this Cheddar Beer Soup is for sale a the airport. The instructions seem simple enough: add water and beer!

So… thinking of doing a little shopping at MKE?

Keep in mind that in addition to a used book store – a rarity at an airport – MKE has a great aviation museum on site and, befitting the city that’s home to Harley Davidson, there’s free parking for motorcycles in the airport parking garage. (Four-wheeled vehicles get a good deal too: the airport offers $5 supersaver  parking.)

Have you found a great souvenir at an airport lately? If it’s under $10, “of” the city or region and, ideally a bit offbeat, snap a photo and send it along. It might show up in a future edition of Souvenir Sunday.

“Commonground191” includes 14 paintings that Gary Simpson created with soil collected from 38 different countries, along with samples of the soils and information explaining how the soil was collected and imported.  The exhibition includes just a portion of a larger project Simpson began in 2002 that, when complete, will feature paintings made with soil from 192 countries.

Why soil? And why soil from 192 countries?

Here’s how Simpson explains it:

“My vision involves creating a large series of abstract panels, 196 of them to be exact, one for each of the 192 countries in the United Nations and five discretionary. For this “Tectonic Art” endeavor, each panel would be about 42”x42” square and when assembled would be 50 feet by 50 feet. To prepare each piece, I intend to collect soil or sand from each of the 192 nations. The mixture will then be incorporated in the texture of the total.

Commonground191 will be on display in the Terminal A (post-security), in the Vi Smith Concourse Gallery at John Wayne Airport through February 2010.

(No one is walking off with this bag!)

The story out of Phoenix about a couple who managed to steal more than 1,000 pieces of luggage from the baggage claim carousels at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is alarming, for sure.

But we shouldn’t be surprised.  While many airports have some sort of security in the bag claim area, the job of making sure passengers walk off with only their bags is the responsility of each airline. And in most airports, airlines haven’t been actively monitoring bag match-ups for years.

I’m working on a story about this for my column next week on MSNBC.com, and would love to hear from you if you have any first hand experience to share.

In the meantime, here are some other travel tidbits you might find useful:

Through November, the folks at 3M are once again hosting “privacy havens” at several busy airports around the country.

This year, you’ll find these quiet spots at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and in Terminal 8 at New York’s JFK International Airport. (Exact locations here).

On the busy days right before and after Thanksgiving, these “privacy havens” will also be offering free massages and free Wi-Fi.

And two sweepstakes you may want to enter:

To coincide with the new movie “Up in the Air,” with George Clooney, American Airlines is having an auction and a sweepstakes.  You’ll need to use AAdvantage miles to bid on travel, movie and “experience-” related items in the auction, but entering the contest, which has prizes that include a trip to Los Angeles and 260,000 AAdvantage miles, is free. You’ll just need to watch the trailer and then enter your details.  (Auction bids and sweepstakes entries must be in by Jan 5, 2010.)

And Hilton (which seems to have a part in the Up in the Air movie) is also having an Up in the Air sweepstakes.  You can enter by booking a Hilton stay, but if you’re not heading out on the road before January 18, 2010 you can enter for free by “sending your hand-printed name, address and phone number on 3” x 5” paper to Hilton “Up In The Air” Sweepstakes Alternate Entry, P.O. Box 8600, Westport, CT 06888”

Good luck!

Keeping the beat, today I want to draw your attention to the music line-up at Nashville International Airport (BNA).  Free live music performances are offered year-round on stages near the A/B meeter-greeter area, in the Concourse C food court (beyond security), and on the Baggage Claim Level.

Carrissia & Company peforms today at noon.  Here’s a link to the the two dozen other live performances scheduled during November, ranging from solo singer/songwriters to groups performing jazz, Big Band, country, and Rhythm & Blues.

No worries: show up at the Memphis International Airport on certain Friday afternoons from now through May 2010 and you’ll be treated to one-hour long performances by Memphis Symphony Orchestra ensembles.

The next performance is Friday, November 13th from 12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

One ensemble will perform near the Blue Note Café; another will perform across from the Food Court in Concourse B.

For more information and the dates of future performances of Memphis Symphony Orchestra ensembles at Memphis International Airport, click here.

It seems that in Great Falls, Montana one of the local hospitals usually invites families to bring their Halloween candy by to get x-rayed, in case there are any tricks in there instead of treats.

But this year, that screening had to be called off because,  due to worries about the H1N1 virus,  kids under 17 aren’t being allowed to visit the hospital right now.

Instead, the Great Falls International Airport came to the rescue by offering up its X-ray machines.

From 7-10 pm this past Saturday night, families could get a free “pumpkin” parking pass and bring bags of Halloween candy in for screening.

Speaking of candy at the airport – and sitting here eyeing all the leftover Halloween candy at my house -  don’t forget that year-round you can find some great locally-made candy at many airports.

At Chicago O’Hare International Airport, for example, there’s Vosages Haut Chocolate, which is currently offering Bacon Caramel Toffee and Mo’s Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix among other in-vogue treats.

DeBrand Fine Chocolates, which has giant caramel apples that serve up to eight people, has an outlet at Indiana’s Fort Wayne International Airport.  And you’ll find locally-made gourmet candy in many airport shops.  For example, Missouri’s at Kansas City International Airport,  the KCI Marketplace and the CNBC stores carry Missouri Walking Sticks, Missouri Mud Munch, and other chocolates from the Candy House in Joplin, Missouri.

Have you found some great local candy at an airport?  Let us know!

Every Sunday at Stuck at the Airport is Souvenir Sunday, when we take a look at some of the fun things you can buy at airports.  The rules: items must be under $10, “of” the city or region, and somewhat offbeat.

Last week, I shared some of the items I found at New Zealand’s Auckland Airport.

This week: more souvenirs from Auckland Airport.

Why? Well, it’s partly because I found so much great stuff there.

Also, to be honest, I finally finished unpacking and forgot that I’d bought these fun souvenirs too!

Tiki soap from the Auckland Airport

Cool, colorful magnets – from a set of a dozen I’m kicking myself for not buying….

Have you found something fun and offbeat for sale at an airport? If so, snap a photo and send it along. It may turn up someday on Souvenir Sunday.

Especially these free in-flight Wi-Fi offers that have popped up recently:

This Saturday, October 31, 2009, Gogo Inflight Internet will be free on all Gogo-equipped Delta flights. To access the service use the code GOPINK.

It’s great that Delta passengers can spend Halloween using Gogo for free.

Even better: for each free session that day, Aircell (the company that brings us the Gogo service) will be donating $1 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, up to $10,000. They’re also going to give all Gogo proceeds from Delta’s Pink Plane for the month of October to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

It seems first timers might also be able to get free Wi-Fi on Delta through the end of the year with the code: deltatrygogo and on Airtran with airtrantrygogo. (Let me know if this works for you.)

But wait! There’s more:

From November 1 – 7, 2009, there will also be free Wi-Fi on Wi-Fi-equipped American Airlines flights, courtesy of the folks at LEXUS.  To access that service use the code: 2010LEXUSLS. ( No car purchase necessary.)

And one more: from November 10, 2009 all the way through the holidays and until January 10, 2010, you’ll get free Wi-Fi on Virgin America flights, courtesy of the folks at Google. Details about free Wi-Fi on Virgin America here.

Have you found some other free in-flight Wi-Fi offers? Let us know.