A photojournalist and I were on hand for the weigh in for the largest pumpkin contest. This was NO small task. First the entries came to the Agriculture/Horticulture Building. They were then transported to one of the animal barns where the large scales are located. This involved finding a scale that was not being used then waiting for semi trucks of animals to be unloaded so we could actually get to the scale, then waiting for a forklift to move the oversized pumpkins and finally transporting it back to the Ag/Hort Building where they will be put on display.
There were two entries that appeared to be the winners based on how big they looked and surprisingly, they both weighed EXACTLY the same once they were loaded on the heavy duty scale. Since both were sitting on large wood pallets with foam protecting them, they had to be unloaded and then the pallets they were sitting on were weighed. They weight of the pallet was subtracted and we finally had the actual weight of the pumpkin.
About two and half hours after starting, we had a winner. For the third year in a row, Bill Foss won this contest with a pumpkin that weighed 813.5 pounds - now how many pies could that pumpkin make? I’ll try to figure that out another day.
Make the most of your day!
