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Hudsonville, Michigan (michiganpumpkins@sbcglobal.net)

Michigan GPC weigh off in St. Johns looks like it is changing dates this year (late Sept). Are GPC weigh-offs going to be spread out over a few weeks instead of all on the same date?
Frank

2/15/2005 10:03:43 PM

Hanover,Ontario,Canada

Yes - You will hear more later

2/15/2005 10:51:52 PM

Central Mi

As a coordinator of a separate weigh off, I would appreciate solid dates as soon as possible. We have always relied on the GPC being the first Saturday in October and planned accordingly. Given few weigh-off opportunities, it would be unfortunate to have them land on the same day.
Todd

2/16/2005 4:12:52 AM

Hudsonville, Michigan (michiganpumpkins@sbcglobal.net)

Dave:
What is the time frame for having weigh-off dates pinned down?
Frank

2/16/2005 7:28:11 AM

Hanover,Ontario,Canada

July 1st to 3rd week in October. We will protect the dates of existing weigh-offs so that no two weigh-offs in the same area will conflict.

2/16/2005 9:06:53 AM

Waquoit Mass

wow guess if you weigh off on october 15 you got ann edge

2/16/2005 11:10:50 AM

Western NY

not sure if it's an edge or a pretty risky gamble holding one that long on the hopes it won't split or rot.

2/16/2005 12:03:43 PM

Eugene,OR

Hey, I already made my brother change his wedding date so it wouldn't be on October 1st! Some of us have lives and responsibilities outsied of pumpkins...a schedule that we can count on as early as possible would be helpful.

2/16/2005 12:20:04 PM

Hudsonville, Michigan (michiganpumpkins@sbcglobal.net)

Dave M:
When will we know what the official dates are for each site?
Frank

2/16/2005 12:35:34 PM

White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Why the changes in dates for the GPC weigh-off, at different sites? I thought it was great having one date as the special weigh-off day. Kind of like the "Rose Bowl" of pumpkin growing contests. Planning around a specific date is much easier also, like our national holidays. Hey, contact your congressmen to make it a national holiday! LOL

My $.02.
James

2/16/2005 12:40:16 PM

Commack, NY

if different dates are used, we will have to know well in advance. this could affect our start dates, pollination times, etc.

How would conflict between other weighoff sites be resolved? I started a weighoff in my area that is specifically placed at the first sunday in october.....the day after GPC. A local fair is a few days later, and requires you to leave a fruit there for, i believe its 10 days. The committee would have to be aware of all weighoffs, dates, times etc in any given area in order to accomodate everyone. With state, and local fairs, as well as independent weighoffs, this could be a huge undertaking.

2/16/2005 1:23:29 PM

Carrollton, Ga.

Hello,
Does the GPC have a website?
Doug
1st. Cor.3:7

2/16/2005 1:53:21 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Niagara.

2/16/2005 3:24:25 PM

Indiana

What about the rest of us that aren't gona make it to Niagara If the changes are already made let them out now!
(including the new color rules)

2/16/2005 4:15:46 PM

Topsfield, Ma.

Well, well, well...this is interesting...Will there be a "Niagara Cam" for us stay-at-homes? LOL
Duff

2/16/2005 7:00:17 PM

Rhode Island

fellow growers

before you good people get to excited think about this for a minute

the multiple date rule was put in as an advantage to all growers not a disadvantage

it allows more clubs to compete within the gpc arena and, as a grower you could take several pumpkins to different gpc chartered weighoff sites where as presently you can only attend one gpc weighoff

( in other words if you have several pumpkins and belong to several clubs that weighoff under the gpc banner then you could possibly have a couple pumpkins that end up in the gpc top ten ), or if your like me you could just have the opportunity to go to more than one gpc event and have a good time of it

also, please keep in mind that one of the reasons the gpc never got past its present membership was because of the all weighoffs on one day rule ---- it leaves to many clubs at a disadvantage ( presently as word of the pending announcements leaks out the gpc has already received quite a few membership requests ,some from sites that have been around for years but were not able to join because of past rules )

think about it people, if you grow in areas of the country that have early summers and/or late falls you could never be a gpc site under the past rules, now you could

the changes were never intended to hurt anyone but rather to make the gpc more of an open organization to clubs all over the world

we also realized upon making these changes that there would always be those that would have done things differently however, we did what we felt was best for the organization

thanks, good growing

dick wallace

2/16/2005 7:16:21 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

So if the cat's out of the bag there's no point in trying to stuff it back in. This is all good stuff here.

Imagine there might someday being 4 or 5 certified weigh-offs just in New England? This is MORE fair since the grower who has a finished fruit in September now may have a chance to get it certified at an early event. Likewise the later pollination or better performing plant is still growing & now has the chance to be harvested after it's done growing rather than before. So the better fruit reaches it's fullest potential & deservedly wins.

Also the grower with 2 (or more) good fruits needn't lie any more by saying his sister-in-law grew it just to see it on a scale. Now he can bring each fruit to each of 2 (or more) different venues thus spreading out sport to a wider audience. Each of these other venues now earns money because of Pumpkins. And pays prize money to growers. Hmmm.

The sport gets more attention, in more cities where we can attract more new growers. All while giving the current growers more choices.

The only thing we give up is the excitement of having all of the final weights for the year coming in on one day. This is unfortunate. But it isn't half as bad as forcing the "orange belt" to fit potential growers who could never even consider wearing it & were unfairly excluded in the past because of where they live.

Forcing all weigh-offs onto one calander day is stupid from a business standpoint. Ag Fairs cannot all be held on the same day. Many of the exhibitors travel from fair to fair from week to week. Force them to choose between a large & a medium event & the medium one will lose a paying exhibitor that was previously attracting paying attendees. So the death of the smaller fair will perpetuate itself. Sure the larger fair organizers are pleased. But at what expense?

Change is not always comfortable. But it is inevitable.

2/16/2005 8:31:50 PM

Okla

I think this is AWESOME! This will let all growers North and South compete now. Our climate does not let us grow the same as the growers up north. Glad to see this change happening. WAY TO GO!

2/16/2005 9:00:47 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

All well and fine as long as any pumpkin entered in a competition can only win once. If ya go for the Big prize and don't get it then it's over...if it's a GPC event that pumpkin can only be exhibition in it's next contest. Come on a lot of new growers need the 500 bucks for next year..Why should one pumpkin take all of the prizes cause they can drive form one site to the next for two or three weeks? I don't think that promotes new growers or helps out novices with the next step...pesticides, fungicides, soil prep cost ...my 2 cents

2/16/2005 9:22:59 PM

Hudsonville, Michigan (michiganpumpkins@sbcglobal.net)

I agree fully that multiple weigh off dates is a good idea. No argument there. Though I do agree with Chuck that it would be nice if a grower could enter a fruit only once in a GPC event, as opposed to parading around the same fruit to several weigh-offs on consecutive weekends.

Just wondering when there might be a posting letting everyone know the whens and wheres, so we can plan accordingly...

2/16/2005 9:37:23 PM

Hanover,Ontario,Canada

A grower will only be able to show a particular pumpkin once to be eligible for GPC prize money. All existing GPC sites have been contacted by their regional representatives. There have been no GPC applications returned to the secretary specifing any dates yet. My guess is that 95/100% of existing sites will still be on the first Saturday in October for 2005.

2/16/2005 11:08:11 PM

Indiana

now I am sure I am gonna get ragged for this, but as of current, the southern growers are not competitive on a national basis. Kentucky is as far south as the 1000 pound barrier has been broke here in the states with the exception of California? Is it fair to have the southern groups pay up and really have no legitimate shot at winning any top prizes? At least up the watermelon money so they can win that every year....LOL Perhaps a special prize for largest grown south of a certain parallel? I dont think The Georgia guys would want to compete with Al Eaton for prizes.....

Tom

2/17/2005 1:03:28 AM

Deer Park WA

Or the West cost growers Tom!

2/17/2005 3:16:33 AM

Central Mi

Great points are being made and I can see the value in multiple dates for different areas. As we move through this transition, it would be appreciated if each site could establish a date and stick with it from year-to-year. This would allow the best of both worlds, giving new growers an opportunity, while allowing all growers the predicatbility that is obviously important.

As has been mentioned, our community has grown to depend on our weigh-off date being firm. We will lose our support if forced to rearrange our date each year to miss our GPC date.

2/17/2005 4:01:12 AM

Hanover,Ontario,Canada

Todd - My advice is to hold firm with your own weigh-off date and others will have be another date if they are in your area. The $500. fee also helps qualify weigh-offs and serious growers.

2/17/2005 7:37:06 AM

Central Mi

Thanks Dave

2/17/2005 4:13:40 PM

White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Has any of the southern growers planted and raised pumpkins at earlier or later dates, than the northern growers, and has it resulted in larger fruit, that can justify changing the GPC weigh-off date? Why is St. John, MI. changing it's weigh-off date? Certainly not a southern state.

Just a couple more questions to ponder.

Now if there was an orange or grapefruit growing contest, I certainly wouldn't expect dates to be changed, just because I live in Minnesota.

Doug, 1st cor. 3:7
v. good

2/17/2005 10:31:53 PM

Team Munson

Now that the "cat is out of the bag" the general ideas for haveing an open weigh-off period have been discussed in this thread. All of your replies to this have been part of the executive committees pros and cons while establishing this rule change.
This rule change is just the tip of the iceburg for rule changes and awards. Due to the complexity of some of the new rule changes we felt it in the best interest of all to unviel them in the biggest format possible. In this forum we will be able to reach the most growers and address any questions that may arise.
We do understand that not all the growers will be able to attend and we are working to get a link out on the internet. If anyone has an idea or wants to help with an internet connection please contact Dave McCallum. John and Ken will not be able to attend but have been helping us to get this project online.
The executive committee has been meeting once a week scince mid December and has put alot of time and effort to ensure the new rules are fair and will help all growers and their sites. I must say that I am personly grateful to the other committee members for their time and dedication to the GPC and all growers around the world.
We are trying to bring more interaction between the executive committee and the growers and I encourage everyone to submit an entry into the logo contest. I hope to see everyone in Niagara, the 5 members of the executive committee will be there. Thank you for your time and your comments I enjoy reading them all.
Dave Stelts

2/17/2005 10:44:30 PM

Indiana

can entries have stick figures?

2/17/2005 11:36:17 PM

Indiana

"This rule change is just the tip of the iceberg for rule changes and awards. Due to the complexity of some of the new rule changes we felt it in the best interest of all to unviel them in the biggest format possible. In this forum we will be able to reach the most growers and address any questions that may arise". I believe that BP.com is the largest pumpkin growing "format" you can have anywhere. Only a minority of the growers can actually make it to the seminar. You have many more interested parties here than you can possibly have at Niagara. You will also get any questions or comments in writing to review at a later date. If the info was released in its entirety before the seminar people attending would have some time to think about the changes and respond accordingly.
just my 2 cents
Steve

2/18/2005 10:42:00 AM

In the shade - PDX, OR

Hummmm

I have a Question -

Is the color rule up next on the agenda?

2/18/2005 12:27:52 PM

Western Pa.

No!

You can be of any color and still enter your giants in G.P.C!

2/18/2005 1:14:39 PM

Indiana

hehe

2/18/2005 5:10:58 PM

Roselle, IL GJGEM@sbcglobal.net

Just wondering, does anybody know of any black growers? I don't.

2/18/2005 6:17:20 PM

berkshire M.A.

there is a Don Black .

2/18/2005 6:58:50 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Growing pumpkins has nothing to do with race or religion and neither should entries on Bigpumpkins.com.

2/18/2005 11:03:24 PM

Nashville, TN

Is The Dickson county Tennessee fair an official weigh-in?

What about the TN state Fair in Nashville?

Myself, my kids and a couple of students may be showing some - providing I grow too many **grin*** How many GP's can you fit in a six-horse slant trailer? Just wondered... I know the rig can easily handle 6,000 lbs of horse flesh. **grin** Is there a big enough winch to get them up the ramp on a 'wheeled pallet' may be the better question...

3/1/2005 2:20:31 PM

Belgium

Anyone know if the Alardt(sp?) Tennesee weighoff date is getting changed?

Thanks,
Jake

3/14/2005 3:15:45 PM