Oct 22nd, 2018: It’s The Great Pumpkin, Linus

Halfway between Boston and New Hampshire lies Topsfield, MA, a town of about 6,000 people.
Since they stopped burning witches nothing of note except the Topsfield Fair for the last 200 years.
One thing the fair in noted for every year is the biggest pumpkin contest.

Ron Wallace, of Greene, Rhode Island, captured the day Friday at the Topsfield Fair's All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off. It was the third time Wallace has won the competition.
His pumpkin weighed in at 2,114 pounds, a new record for the fair, according to Topsfield Fair Spokesman David Thomson. The former record holder was Steve Connolly, who brought a 2,075-pound pumpkin to the weigh-off in 2016.

As the first place winner, Wallace received an $8,518 check from the fair. Dan and Holly Boyce of Benson, Vermont, came in second place Friday with a 2,017.5-pound gourd, and received a $3,000 cash prize. Scott Marley, of Bellingham, placed third and received a $1,500 cash prize with his 1,846.5-pounder.

Norman Gansert, of Johnston, Rhode Island, received the Howard Dill Award for the Best Looking Pumpkin at the competition, for his 990-pound entry, a nearly symmetrical pumpkin with a robust orange color.

It takes a lot of spice for a one ton pumpkin.

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I'd like to see 'em chunk that 'un.

Peter"s wife was bigger than I thought.

Boo. Hiss.

:lol2:

Why doesn't anybody rotate them when small and keep the stem vertical? It would be interesting to see what happens when full grown and not looking like a partially deflated MACY'S balloon.

Plant stems don't usually grow longer from the middle; it's the ends that grow. So once a pumpkin begins to grow, it's a fixed distance from the base of the vine. I would guess that if they let the stem be on top, it would lift the entire vine off the ground, and even risk uprooting it. Perhaps if they figured out the perfect hydroponic setup, or grew it in a movable pot.

It's the weight that distends the punkin.

They need to be growing these on the space station in microgravity.

Or here on earth in one of those vertical wind tunnels for skydiving simulation.

As the first place winner, [COLOR="Navy"]Wallace received an $8,518[/COLOR] check from the fair. Dan and Holly Boyce of Benson, Vermont, came in second place Friday with a 2,017.5-pound gourd, and received a $3,000 cash prize. Scott Marley, of Bellingham, placed third and received a $1,500 cash prize with his 1,846.5-pounder.

There is surely some signifigance to the first prize being $8518, but I can't figure out what it might be.

Maybe a random number picked from a hat?

Maybe the prize pool starts with a base amount and increases with donations, gate returns etc. Then the award amounts are set at 1500 for third, 3000 for second and 5000 *plus* overages from the other sources..

Like the fifty fifty raffle the prize amount isn't known at the start of the contest.

BigV;1017360 wrote:

Maybe the prize pool starts with a base amount and increases with donations, gate returns etc. Then the award amounts are set at 1500 for third, 3000 for second and 5000 *plus* overages from the other sources..

Like the fifty fifty raffle the prize amount isn't known at the start of the contest.

I'm sorry, but that answer is entirely too rational. :p:

That would explain why second and third place get cash while first place gets a check.

Glinda;1017357 wrote:

There is surely some signifigance to the first prize being $8518, but I can't figure out what it might be.

Maybe a random number picked from a hat?

$4.03/lb. Roughly. So that prolly ain't it.

xoxoxoBruce;1017370 wrote:

That would explain why second and third place get cash while first place gets a check.

Yep, that check-vs-cash thing raised an eyebrow for me, too.

Again, not a satisfying answer.





I desperately want to believe this is some sort of weird backwoods, small-scale, money laundering project. :sweat: