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50 years of big pumpkins at the fair
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Alan Gibson of Salem has been growing pumpkins for the Canfield Fair on and off for the last 50 years. This year’s Canfield Fair weigh-off will be Aug. 26 at the Canfield Fairgrounds.
By Kalea Hall
CANFIELD
On and off for the past 50 years, Alan Gibson of Salem has grown a large pumpkin for the Canfield Fair’s pumpkin contest.
And he has again this year.
“It gets in your blood,” Gibson said. “It’s a good hobby.”
Homer Schaeffer, former fair board director, and Ray Carr, pumpkin show superintendent, visited a pumpkin show and decided to bring it to the Canfield Fair in the 1960s.
Bob Fox was a top grower in the late 1960s, and then brothers John and Hugh Ritz dominated the 1970s and 1980s with their large pumpkins and other items. Between the Ritz brothers and another grower, Jerry Rose, each has six grand champion pumpkins.
Rose had the fair’s first 1,000-pound pumpkin in 2008.
In the 1990s, Ron and Kathy Moffett were constant winners.
The peak of the large pumpkin show was in 1994 when more than 200 giant pumpkins and squash were on display.
The record to date is 1,277.5 pounds, set in 2010 by Chuck Ellsworth.
They weren’t always so giant: In 1965, Gibson; his father, Gordon, and brother David together took home the grand championship with a 147.5-pound pumpkin and reserve championship, or second-place, with a 125-pounder.
Overall, Gibson has had five grand champion pumpkins and four second places.
His largest Canfield Fair pumpkin was 1,082 pounds in 2011, which got him the grand championship that year. He doesn’t think he will take the title this year with his pumpkin. He said he’ll be lucky to be in the top five or six.
“There aren’t really any secrets,” Gibson said. “The main thing is the right seed.”
The genetics of the seed are important, as well as the soil and good management — insect and disease control, irrigation, pruning and wind protection. Another factor is the weather.
The rumor is there’s a 1,300-pound pumpkin coming from Michigan to this year’s weigh-off Tuesday.
Craig Myers, fair board president, has overseen the pumpkin contest since he became a board member in 2002.
Since then, he has seen the weights increase. It was once rare to see 800-pound pumpkins. Today, the average can be from 600 pounds and up. This year, 30 to 50 pumpkins are expected to be entered, but that is dependent on the weather over the next three to four days.
“The pumpkin growers like to brag to their neighbors about how big their pumpkin is,” Myers said.