California Contest Dubs 1,969-Pound Pumpkin the Plumpest

[IceWizard]

OCT 12 2015, 11:00 PM ET

A rippled white whopper weighing 1,969 pounds took the title for plumpest pumpkin at the 42nd annual World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off.



01. John Hawkley, of Napa, sits by his pumpkin in the back of his truck during the annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California on Oct.

Growers gathered with their gargantuan
offerings to try to break the world record of
2,323 pounds, which was set by a Swiss grower during a competition in Germany last year. It didn't happen.




02. Judges and crew members measure a
pumpkin in the World Pumpkin Capital of Half
Moon Bay.

With California in its fourth year of drought,
some said the dry soil deflated their pumpkin-
growing dreams.




03. An official measures a pumpkin during the
annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin
Weigh-off.




04. Farmer John (L) speaks with his
granddaughter Delfina Bianchi, 7, as they wait
next to their pumpkins.




05. A square pumpkin is displayed during the
42nd annual Safeway World Championship
Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest in the World
Pumpkin Capital of Half Moon Bay, California.




06. Forklifts and special harnesses carefully
placed the massive pumpkins on an industrial-
strength digital scale with a capacity of 5 tons
as officials from the county agricultural
commissioner's Office of Weights, Sealers, and
Measures kept close watch.




07. A group of children watch the weighing of
pumpkins.




08. The winning entry was no small feat. Steve
Daletas of Pleasant Hill, Oregon, won $12,000
for his lumpy, 1,969-pound pumpkin.

"It's been a good year," he said after the
contest. "I've never grown an official 1,900-
pound pumpkin before."