A Washington farmer has broken an American record with a gargantuan 2,363-pound mega-gourd, the second heaviest pumpkin ever grown!
Joel Holland from Sumner, smashed the U.S. record at the 44th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off this past weekend at the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival in California. Nine pumpkins weighed in at over 1,100 pounds at this year’s event.
Holland won $16,541 ($7 per pound) plus Half Moon Bay’s coveted “Mel Mello Sr. Grand Champion Green Jacket” and a “starring role” in this weekend’s Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival where his gargantuan gourd will be on display along with the top four overall from the weigh-off.
Last year’s champion grower Cindy Tobeck of Olympia, Washington was second with a 2,002 pounder and won $2,000. Jeff Uhlmeyer of Tumwater, Washington was third with a 1,927 pounder and received $1,500.
George Armanino of Pescadero, California won Biggest Coastside Pumpkin at 881 pounds and received $500.
The audience-judged Most Beautiful Pumpkin award went to Art Martinez of Fremont, California. He won $500.
Holland’s grand champion mega-gourd will be proudly displayed at the world-famous Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival, this weekend from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Main Street in Half Moon Bay, California.
