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Puyallup, WA

2002 CENTRAL MMARKET WEIGH-OFF RESULTS
Shoreline, WA
Saturday, October 12, 2002
Pacific Northwest Giant Pumpkin Growers



1. Craig Sandvik             1058#        Chemainus, B.C. Can.
2. Kirk Mombert             907#        Harrisburg, OR
3. Geneva Emmons             862#        Sammamish, WA    
4. Shellie Cramer             851# Rochester, WA
5. Geoff Gould              818#         
Skagit Valley, WA
6. Joel Holland             732#        Sumner, WA
7. Darrell Roulst             672#        Mossyrock, WA
8. Stan Pugh                 641#        Puyallup, WA
9. Steve Radich             634#        Bow, WA
10. Chris Michalec             583#        Covington, WA
11. Rocky Tharp             509#        Seattle, WA
12. Jake Van Kooten             498#        Port Alberni, B.C. Can.    
13. Clint Maehl                 437#        Seattle, WA
14. David Clatterbuck             422#        Lake Stevens, WA
15. Don Emmons             411#        
Sammamish, WA
16. Kim & Mike Thomas          406#        Hamilton, MT
17. Darren Sturch             304#        Abbotsford, B.C. Can.
18. Popp Family             219#        Poulsbo, WA
19. Travis Fisk (3 yr. Old)         192#        Newscastle, WA
20. Greg Chadwell             92#        Porterville, CA

10/13/2002 9:31:51 PM

South Hill, Virginia

Wow a three year old...that's really something. I'd like to see him push the tiller around the patch.

10/13/2002 9:44:36 PM

Puyallup, WA

I was told by one of the directors of the PNWGPG that Travis was the only entry in the Childrens Class. Since this was the first weigh-off at Central Market, he didn't
want to make a "big issue" of the matter. However, it will be thoroughly discussed at the next Directors meeting.

10/13/2002 10:53:48 PM

Lake Stevens, WA, USA

It was the only pumpkin that was entered by his family. They "interviewed" Travis and asked if he grew it and he said YES!, they asked if he had help and he said YES!, It was a total riot, he was yelling all of his answers at the top of his lungs into the microphone, and everyone was cracking up............it was great!!!

He probably did plant the seed, and probably helped grow it as best he could. As there were no other kids entered (as Stan pointed out)there was no real issue. But I guess it could get "interesting" under other circumstances with several child-growers.............I guess the questions is "Do we need an age minimum"?

I have run into this in Salmon Fishing Derby's........The dad doesn't catch one big enough to win the adults contest, so he gives it to his son to enter cuz it's a shoe-in to win the kids division................yeah, we all completely believe that your four year old son (who can barely manage to hold the rod with two hands) caught that 14 pound Chinook..........yeah, right.

But, on the pumpkin side of things, my 18 month old son likes few things more than spraying water with the garden hose on my pumpkin plants. Just try taking that hose away from him and you will see the temper tantrum of your life!!!!

What is the minimum age for using a garden hose and sticking a seed in the ground? I know my son can do it.

David

10/14/2002 12:35:14 AM

Washington, The Evergreen State

I remember my dad taking me out and catching my first steelhead trout when I was about seven-years-old. Boy! Sometimes it would get so cold out that I thought my poor feet were going to freeze up solid. They sure felt like it anyway. But on that day I caught my first steelhead I actually caught and landed two! So sometimes even a kid can do a pretty good job at things. Now days I get almost as much satisfaction as out of watching a large pumpkin grow as I did on that day on the riverbank. And it also seems to me that the fishing just isn't as good as it used to be. So if a child, even a three-year-old, can either help grow, or in some way contribute to growing a larger pumpkin, I think that's great.

10/14/2002 1:57:24 AM

Circleville ,OH.

One thing to remember is todays children are tomarrows giant pumpkin growers.I think you need to get them intersted at an early age.And if you want to keep the fathers from giving their kids one to win in the kids div. keep the money out of it(money is the root of all evil).Children like big ribbons they can take to school and show all their friends anyways.I also dont think any child would totally grow their own pumpkin because, what respectable parent would let their child spray the plants with pesticides used today?I guess what Im trying to say is if a kid does what he or she can to help I would say its thier pumpkin.

Just my two cents worth ...............Darryl

10/14/2002 3:33:50 AM

Let's hear it for encouraging these kids to develop a desire to plant and nurture!!

I have 2 grandchildren, my grandson is 3 1/2 and granddaughter is 3 1/4 :-D Both enjoy all things about gardening...my grandson in particular has developed a penchant for identifiying plants...he can tell you what is what in the garden...and I frequently give him both the botanical and common names. This year he helped me clear garden space, assisted in weeding, planted small pumpkins, sunflowers, hosta, corsican mint etc....
His favorite thing to do each day was to check the pumpkins and the sunflowers, pulling any weeds that had developed and watering with the watering can or the hose and helping to fertilize. I would never "force" any of this on a child, but I would say my grandson had done enough work (for his age) to call this "his" work...though he refers to them as "ours" :-D Unfortunately due to scheduling changes and a move, my granddaughter did not get to spend as much time here this year....but she is excited about pumpkins and we may be planting some at her new house this next year!!

I'm with Darryl...kids LOVE ribbons...a ribbon framed with a photo of the child and pumpkin will be a wonderful reminder of the fun they had in the garden! Any activity that brings a family together has GOT to be a good thing!!

Happy gardening everyone!
Michele

10/14/2002 1:15:39 PM

Congratulations to all who had pumpkins at the Central Market Weigh Off!! I am surprised and excited to see that folks come from near and far to participate!

Hopefully I will get to meet some of you at the DesMoines Weigh Off next Saturday.

Here's to a prosperous and pumpkinful 2003!!
Michele

10/14/2002 1:21:46 PM

South Hill, Virginia

I'm all for making kids happy but entering a pumpkin in a name other than the grower, if forbidden by the rules, is dishonest. This is not something I would like to teach my children. If all they require is the thrill of the weighoff then enter it EXH. If given enough time we can probably rationalize that just about anyone could be the "grower" and "caretaker" of the pumpkin. This reminds me of something I heard right before a golf tournament I was participating in. We were playing winter rules and someone asked how to resolve a dispute of whether a ball was on the fairway or in rough. An old fella spoke up and said, "if you have to ask, you're in the rough." If you have to try to build a case that someone else grew your pumpkin then they probably didn't.

10/14/2002 1:36:47 PM

Well, I'm not a member of the rule making group, but I think that if it is ribbon prize only (not monetary) and the rules are designed to encourage the active participation of the child, then we have to hope that few will be dishonest. There will always be someone somewhere who tries to cheat, in any event. I used to show dogs and my son did junior handling...there was always at least one child entered who didn't know squat and didn't care about handling...but was using a pointed champion dog that did everything for them. We even see this in 4-H...kids whose parents buy them thousands of dollars worth of horse just so they can be the best and beat out the kids who have done all the work themselves. The only ones being cheated are the kids.

Anyway, I'll quit babbling :D I'd say to adjust the rules accordingly for a kids class and hope that the majority of the people are going to be honest.

10/14/2002 1:54:12 PM

Washington, The Evergreen State

I think that some of you folks are overly concerned about nothing. So what if a three-year-old placed in a pumpkin contest? I mean, get real! And let the poor kid have his day. Some of you folks just take the hobby way too seriously. It has already been stated that Travis Fisk was entered in the Children’s Class. And that he also happened to be the only entry at that! It also seems that his pumpkin only weighed 192 pounds. Not bad for a kid. But some of you so called adults better get real.

10/15/2002 12:31:52 AM

South Hill, Virginia

Thanks for being my conscience JohnnyJohnny. I didn't realize I was taking this way to seriously until you showed me the error of my ways. Please let me know how to "get real".

P.S. I think you missed the point, get real.

10/15/2002 11:54:33 AM

canal winchester ohio

I for one have always put my pumpkins in the weighoff under my boys name & I will continue to do so. Now the folks in Circleville know I grow them, I never hide that. It's a way of including my sons in my hobby ( they are 8 & 5) & you would be suprised just how much my 8 year know about growing giant pumpkins, Hell my 5 year old knows more now than I did when I was 16 trying to grow these things.
Now if sometime in the future I would be lucky enough to win the Circleville show it would be entered under the tag of "Huffer Family" because my whole family is involved in one way or the other.
And for the money issue, screw the money. I do it for the chance to win our show. Just ask Darryl what it was like when we were growing up in Circleville, it wasn't about the payout. It was about having bragging rights for the rest of the year.
Take any weighoff in the country & ask the people in the town it was held in 6 months later who won. I would bet most wouldn't know. Ask ANYONE in Circleville who won last year & everyone would know.
Sorry I didn't mean to get off track, I just have a passion for our show.........Paul

10/15/2002 1:24:25 PM

Kentucky - USA

I know I'm off topic but:

It would be hard to say if a kid was the one that grew the pumpkins in a child weigh off class. I know I've been growing stuff ever since I was big enough to pick up a garden hole.

Also.. I've heard of people planting some ag seeds with no weeding,fertilizing,or watering and still getting a pumpkin in the 150 to 200 pound range.

Still I don't think a weigh off site could come up with set of rules that would work for a child class pumpkin weigh off.

Maybe they keep it all in one class and let people put the pumpkin in who evers name they want to.

just my opinion..

TAdams

10/15/2002 2:31:04 PM

Washington, The Evergreen State

I value your opinion South Hill. But if the judges at the Central Market Weigh-off allowed Travis Fisk's entry to stand then I just feel that some of us shouldn't really be trying to second guess the results. GO TRAVIS! Whew! The pumpkin growing season is almost over.

10/15/2002 8:22:43 PM

Covington, WA

My 10 year old daughter was with me at this weigh-off and is now keen to help me in the patch next year. She has stated that she wants to win that prize next year and has already told me which pumpkins that are in patch now that she wants seeds from. I could have pulled a pumpkin out of the patch and let her enter it, but the only help she provided this year was naming them. She has helped more in the past, but this just wasn't the year for it. I don't have a problem with what they did there as our sponsor didn't have any qualms about writing the check to pay for that prize. What that did was stimulate the interest for doing this in my daughter and I'm looking forward to spending more time with her in the garden next year. It encouraged her in a way that I couldn't do by myself so I'd have to say that having the children's division is a very positive thing. The more kids we have entering it, the less likely it is that adults would try to put a pumpkin that otherwise wouldn't contend for a prize in that class.

10/16/2002 1:30:25 PM

Great outlook, Tiller! Good luck to your daughter in the coming year and happy tilling!!
Michele (former Covington resident)

10/16/2002 7:29:00 PM

porterville, calif.

I think you were not at the weigh off you are missing what happened there. Everyone there from what I could tell was ok with the one boy winning. It was not his fault he was the only one in his class. It was a positive experiance for Him and all who was watching. Heck he even beat me out. I took my Peanut knowing i didn,t stand a chance. But just being in the weigh off meeting all of the good people there was something I have nevered experiance at any other type of event. Don,t judge what happened there if you werent
there. All i know is that everyone there seemed to really enjoy seeing him get up there and getting his reward. Everyone there realizes that he might have had some help, so what. Im sure in the future he will be back. That is what counts. Also other children will be wanting to enter too. I believe this was the first weich there. It will only get better. I know i plan on being back there next year..Greg

10/17/2002 1:54:05 PM