Event shows off great pumpkins

More than 100 people turned out to watch the local competition.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
CANFIELD -- Quinn Werner of Saegertown, Pa., has some advice for those wishing to grow giant pumpkins -- don't use fertilizer.
He didn't use any on the 1,187.5-pound behemoth he brought to the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Grower's 10th annual Weigh-Off Saturday at Parks Garden Center.
The local event was one of 20 weigh-offs held Saturday across North America for the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth competition. Entries here were automatically entered in the North American competition.
Great Pumpkin Commonwealth is the governing body for giant-pumpkin growers in North America.
Werner's pumpkin was big enough to take first place at the Canfield competition but still a bit short of the world record of 1,385 pounds.
A new world record, however, was set Saturday by this year's North America winner, Al Eaton of Ontario, Canada. His pumpkin weighed 1,446 pounds, a spokesman at Parks Garden Center said.
Full-time job
Werner, a foreman at a tool and die shop in Meadville, Pa., said growing giant pumpkins is nearly a full-time job for five months of the year. Much of that time is spent just watering and weeding, he said.
"The more time you put into it, the better you get," he said.
This year's entry was his biggest ever. His previous record pumpkin was 1,157 pounds, he said, noting that he's grown eight that reached more than 1,000 pounds over the last several years.
Giant pumpkins aren't grown from the seeds found at the local home and garden store. They're special hybrids and the seeds of the biggest are sought after by growers across the country.
There were about a half-dozen pumpkins in the 1,000-pound-plus size at this year's event.
James Bryan, 12, of West Sunbury, Pa., didn't have one of the largest pumpkins in the contest but said he was happy with his 343.5-pound entry.
This was his first year at trying to grow a giant pumpkin, Bryan said, adding that he's never grown any kind of pumpkins before. He also had a 372-pound squash entry this year.
Bryan said he got interested in trying to grow giant pumpkins after viewing a neighbor's pumpkin patch that boasted several of them.
That neighbor, Chip Brunst, started growing giant pumpkins only last year, but his entry this year was good enough to take second place at 1,074 pounds.
Brunst, a Pennsylvania wildlife conservation officer, said that it's important to get young people involved in activities such as this and that he monitored Bryan's progress after giving the young man the seeds that produced the his big pumpkin.
Other entries
Bryan wasn't the only first-time grower at the event who was influenced by a more experienced grower.
Kayla Lake, 17, of Hammondsville, Ohio, was "very pleased" with her first entry in the contest, a pumpkin that weighed in at 488 pounds.
She said her girlfriend's father grows giant pumpkins and got her interested by giving her some seeds to plant.
More than 100 growers, their families and friends and interested spectators turned out to witness the weigh-off.
Parks said there were more than 100 entries this year in a variety of categories, including a Virginia man who drove 500 miles to enter his watermelons in the competition.
Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers promotes giant-pumpkin growing in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Various category winners at the Canfield event walked off with monetary prizes totaling $6,500.