Community Corner
Top Pumpkin at Half Moon Bay Festival Falls Short of Record at 1,969 Pounds
The giant gourd fell short of the North American record of 2,058 pounds set last year.
The 45th annual Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival will have some monster pumpkins on display, but none that quite break the one-ton mark this year, festival organizers said.
At Monday’s pumpkin weigh-off, farmer Steve Daletas took the top prize with a 1,969-pound pumpkin, falling short of the North American record of 2,058 pounds set last year.
Last year’s winner John Hawkley came in seventh this year with a 1,447-pound pumpkin. This year’s second place winners were Ron and Karen Root, who entered a 1,806-pound pumpkin, and third place was Jack Larue who entered a 1,685 pounder.
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Rounding out the top 10 were Dean Busquaert, 1,635 pounds, Leonardo Urena, 1,617 pounds, Tim Mathison, 1,547 pounds, Jim Sherwood, 1,309 pounds, Vern Blaziek, 1,304 pounds, and Gary Miller, 1,303 pounds.
Each year farmers bring the massive gourds to downtown Half Moon Bay for the annual weigh-off. Despite persistent drought conditions the top pumpkins have continued to weigh in at about a ton.
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Last year’s winner set a new North American record. The year before farmer Gary Miller set a festival record with a 1,985-pound pumpkin.
In 2012 an Oregon farmer set a California record at 1,775 pounds.The world record was set last October by a Swiss farmer who grew a 2,323 pounder, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. A world record set in Half Moon Bay would have netted a $30,000 prize.
This year’s top five pumpkins will be on display at the pumpkin fest on Saturday and Sunday.
Other events at the festival include four stages of entertainment, a pumpkin pie eating contest, a pancake breakfast, a Halloween costume contest, a haunted house and the Great Pumpkin Parade on Sunday.
The Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday along Main Street between Mill and Spruce streets in downtown Half Moon Bay.
More information is available at pumpkinfest.miramarevents.com.
--Bay City News Service, photo courtesy of the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival
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