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Rhode Island

AN IDEA WHOS TIME HAS COME ?
first off before i make a couple suggestions i have thought about for a time now, i would like to publicly acknowledge the progress our GPC has made these last five years.
id guess the weigh-off site listings have tripled during this period of time. a testament to the hard work on our behalfs by dave stelts, andy wolf and all the executive committee members. a tip of paps hat to all of you. thank you.

if my records are accurate it looks like the gpc has ten countries represented at present-usa-canada-italy-germany-sweden-finland-ireland-france-switzerland-uk.
each country has their own colors. has the time come to honor one country per year by using their colors for all our gpc 2-10 award ribbons? a great way to honor a multi-national organization.

the gpc also has their weigh-off regions broken down into eight groups. new england - ny/pa/south west - great lakes -central/midwest - pacific coast - central/west canada- ontario/east canada - international.
as each region has somewhat seperate growing conditions? and growers are somewhat limited because of these growing conditions? has the time come to recognize the top grower in each region with a championship title and trophy cup?.
the overall gpc champion to continue to recieve the orange jacket of course.its the top award in our hobby.

thanks ------PAP

9/17/2010 11:36:59 AM

Lexington, Ky

Two great ideas, I can't think of any reason why anyone would argue against it...even that guy that's sending those letters ;}

9/17/2010 1:24:52 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Maybe still have one color that's consistent, to indicate it's GPC? and add the complimentary honored 1-3 other colors per cycle...

Regionals would need careful divisioning, very careful.

9/17/2010 6:26:44 PM

Rhode Island

okie
the regions are already listed on the gpc site, that was the point of the suggestion and should not need any tweeking.
there will always be a site here or there inside of a particular region that will be more favorable than some of the others however, if your broke it down anymore thaty presently exists i believe this would just water the regions down and make this type of regional championship award insignificant.

as far as the honoring of a different country each year by using that countries colors?plus a common gpc color? it would be a moot ribbon if you included any other color but that of the country being honored.the reason for using that countries colors is to honor that country that year.
quite possibly the gpc logo could be placed in the center button on all ribbons .which would be appropriate.
pap

9/17/2010 6:43:28 PM

Lexington, Ky

Just breaking down the regions as already defined by the GPC is plenty in my opinion. I like those odds better than what we have now! I agree, don't water it down, it would make the award less significant. One can make a good argument about breaking down regions by longtitude and/or latitude but if the GPC has an open ear for Regional awards, let's make it easy for them, tweak it later if necessary.

9/20/2010 2:36:41 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Trust me the ones growing down by OKC down on the flat had totally different weather than us up here in the panhandle...

If you cut the place up into regions, you *have* to take the growing conditions into account.

9/20/2010 3:06:22 PM

Rhode Island

unfortunatel any contest-award-rueling-etc, will always generate commentary from those that do not agree.i can see where not everyone could be satisfied and, asking the gpc to re-distribute their regions would not be a good thing.
the regions were set up for management by the regional directors not for climate per say.

you can never satisfy everyone.which is probably why this idea about regional awards will not fly. in the end ? its probably not worth all the problems it could cause the gpc.

i do feel however that honoring a different GPC country each year with award ribbons for all sites in that counrries colors? would be a very honorable gesture by the gpc.

we tend to forget that its not just canada and the usa. there are many other countries that participate and support the gpc.

9/22/2010 10:03:00 AM

Ohio

Okie, Quinn lives just two hrs away from me and his climate is much colder then mine, he has frost's that end alot later then mine and also frost's that hit him a month earlier then it hits me,,, why cant I grow a bigger pumpkin then him if his climate is alot colder and he only lives less then 2 hrs away?,,

But to be honest, I think alot of it,,like in your case, its the grower and how they prepare and how they go about growing pumpkins, do what these HH do growing a pumpkin and I think your ''panhandle'' weather argument really holds no merit.

9/23/2010 10:59:51 AM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Once again, pap is on the leading edge and suggests a good idea. While everyone has the right to an opinion, I've just got to weigh in on the "regions" and "growing conditions" as to me it seems like a bit of overkill for something that should be easy.

My Province (aka State) has 364,800 square miles in it while Oklahoma has 68,600 square miles and S. Dakota has 77,000 square mile in it...Both these States fit inside mine over 5 times....

So how many "regions" should British Columbia be split into? How many differant "growing conditions" should be considered? What about altitude above sea level? What about inland versus along the coast?

Some of the comments here remind me of that crazy letter I got this spring ranting about the same issues.

9/23/2010 11:58:07 AM

Knopp, Germany

this is all about the color of ribbons and recognizing growers from the GPC regions.

I am for the recognizing of growers from the GPC regions, that would be another way in my opinion to recognize a fairly large population of crazy AG growers on a scale that is something that can be understood by the not understanding public.

I am against the idea of changing the ribbon colors each year, I would be happy if they would simply arrive on time.

2 cents from an old first year grower with a few GPC coordinator years under his oversized belt.

9/23/2010 12:09:07 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

I agree, this was about ribbon colors... and. Classy combo always works, the blue and gold look good.

Maybe this needs to go to Niagara to be discussed (changing colors or adding to the palette)

9/23/2010 10:15:59 PM

Lexington, Ky

Hey Pap, how about spinning off the Master Grower Award into Regions? Last years MGA contestants where from all over the place and the competition was tight....just a thought.....

9/24/2010 1:00:36 PM

Lexington, Ky

2009 MGA Contestants Top 11 by location:

Ohio
Michigan
Canada
Kentucky
California
Iowa
Missouri
North Carolina
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Indiana

On down the finishing order, these locations repeat:

Pennsylvania, Oregon, Michigan, Canada, Indiana

9/24/2010 1:21:40 PM

Deer Park WA

pap, listing top honors by the country colors I agree with, but i think they should have to win to have their colors included in the winners ribbons. I for one would like Red, White & Blue in our ribbon when Dani & I get the World Record! Which by the way would also work with the French flag,and the Kings Colors of the UK, so please throw some stars on Danis and my ribbons so folks know the US won! Heck with trying to tunnel down to regional micro climates for ribbon colors, like Brooks said a few miles can make the differenc between freezing and not freezing (the difference between Blalocks patch and our old Cheney patch. Still I think its awesome that the sport has gone world wide and these countries are are on our US butts for the world record! Side note: are most of the world wide heavy hitters around the 45th to 49th parallel and nearby the ocean?

9/27/2010 11:43:24 PM