October 13, 2009
Pumpkin squashes competition in Calif. weigh-off
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
A giant pumpkin from Iowa is the prize of the patch after squashing the competition in a heavyweight championship on California's coast.
The gigantic gourd tipped the scales at 1,658 pounds to win the 36th annual World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay on Monday.
The pumpkin set a new weight record for California. Contest spokesman Tim Beeman says the old state record was 1,535 pounds.
At $6 a pound, Des Moines grower Don Young will take home a $9,948 prize. He says he didn't expect to win and is very happy.
The sizable squash falls short of the world record apparently set last week at an Ohio weigh-off by one registering 1,725 pounds.
Young's winning gourd will be shown off this weekend at the Half Moon Bay pumpkin festival.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
