Pumpkins. Big ones. It’s guaranteed you’ll see them at this year’s Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, from 7 to 11 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 12.
On that day, 60 to 80 anxious growers from California, Oregon and Washington will converge at the I.D.E.S. Hall at 735 Main St. in Half Moon Bay — along with locals, reporters, and guitar-wielding Jim Stevens singing about pumpkins and Half Moon Bay.
 A giant pumpkin is carefully lifted towards the scales at last year's Annual Pumpkin Weigh Off in Half Moon Bay. |
At stake is what Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival promoter Tim Beeman calls “the coveted title and cash and notoriety that goes along with it.”
Specifically, that’s about $20,000 in prize money, underwritten by Safeway, in both open and special divisions. The grand-prize winner takes home $6 per pound, and there is a $2,000 second prize, $1,500 third prize, $1,000 fourth prize and $500 fifth through 10th prizes. There are also first through third prizes of $500, $300 and $200 respectively in the San Mateo County division, and special prizes of $1,000 for the biggest pumpkin grown in California, $500 for the biggest grown by a San Mateo County Farm Bureau member, $500 for the biggest grown from Montara to Pescadero and $500 for the “Most Beautiful” pumpkin as judged by the audience.
The contest takes place under watchful official eyes. The scale is handled by staff of the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office of Weights, Sealers and Measures. For the second time, Half Moon Bay will serve as an officially sanctioned Great Pumpkin Commonwealth site. The London-based GPC is the major sanctioning body overseeing giant-pumpkin-growing competitions worldwide. “Our relationship with the GPC puts us in the mix for a potential world record,” said Weigh-Off Director Jack Olsen of the San Mateo County Farm Bureau.
But that’s all just one slice of the contest pie. Behind the scenes is history, tradition, a playfully competitive agricultural community — and chills. “The thrill is just to see nature produce something that large,” said Muller.
Pumpkins were entrenched in Half Moon Bay beginning in the 1930s with teenage brothers John and Clarence Arata planting pumpkins to feed the farm’s hogs. One day they were hauling pumpkins along Highway 1 when a passing motorist stopped and asked to buy one. The brothers sold him one for a quarter — but recognized opportunity, and a pumpkin-and-tourist boom was launched.
Fast forward to 1974, when small Circleville, Ohio proclaimed itself to be the pumpkin capital of the world. Indignant Half Moon Bay citizenry, led by then-Mayor Melvin Mello, challenged it to a weigh-off.
Half Moon Bay’s first local winner was John Minaidis with a 132-pounder — a giant in those days. Minaidis took top honors at the next two Weigh-Offs with pumpkins at 273 and 208 pounds respectively. The Weigh-Offs were held in Kitty Fernandez Park until they moved to the I.D.E.S. Hall in the early 1990s.
What goes into growing a giant?
Veteran grower Muller ticks it off on “one hand,” he said solemnly. “One: seed. Two: location. Three: skill. Four: weather. Five: luck.”
Lots of savvy, time, water, fertilizer, tender loving care and determination have contributed to the steady upswing in pumpkin weight over the years, growers say. “It’s like anything in life,” said Beeman. “You learn as you go and get better with your craft.”
Genetics have a lot to do with it, Muller said. The close-knit community of pumpkin growers annually pool skills, seeds and secrets — selectively. “They tell everything — but!” he said.
“You just keep trying,” said Larry Centoni of Half Moon Bay, a Weigh-Off regular from the beginning and winner of the biggest-on-the-coast at 448 pounds in the 1990s. “One guy tries to beat the other guys.”
A growing trend nowadays is organic fertilizer. “What’s old is new again,” Muller said.
But giant pumpkins are luring a new generation of growers, like John Szabo, who cleared some space in his Half Moon Bay backyard for a couple of pumpkin plants. He entered last year’s contest with a 209-pounder last year and has high hopes for this year. “I’m a rookie,” he said. “If I can get up to 300 pounds, I’ll be happy!”
For information on the Weigh-Off, contact Beeman at 726-3491.
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