Pumpkins keep growing bigger in Leader
By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com
Remember the ancient nursery rhyme “Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater? He had a wife and couldn’t keep her. He put her in a pumpkin shell, And there he kept her very well.” Peter’s pumpkin was probably even larger than the pumpkins entered in the Pumpkin Growing Contest that has been taking place at Leader, Sask. for the past three years.
The Pumpkin Growers in Leader started in 2018 when a group of nine friends engaged in a friendly giant pumpkin growing competition.
Chris Stimson from Leader recalls when the competition first started. “It got quite competitive and there was a lot of interest so we opened it up to the public and turned it into a fundraiser for our community.”
Not only did the pumpkins keep on growing, but the pumpkin growing contest continued to grow as well. Now in 2020, the pumpkins and the competition are bigger and better than ever, doubling their 2019 entries with over 70 contestants competing.
The contest has a Facebook page where contestants sign up for the contest by submitting a $40 entry fee, after which they receive their seeds early in the spring. Every contestant is on their own as to how they cultivate the best pumpkin growing tactics. The one rule that applies is “no help sites”; it’s every pumpkin grower for themselves. Chris Stimson noted that pumpkin growing tips vary a great deal amongst the growers.
And it‘s all for a good cause, as the proceeds go towards a community endeavour. Last year’s proceeds went towards rebuilding a dugout at the Leader Ball Diamonds and this year’s proceeds of $2500 are going to the G3 IcePlex in Leader.
This year’s winners weighed in with some hefty pumpkins. First place went to Lance Wenzel with a whopping big 111.6 pound pumpkin. Second place went to Dave Wagman with a 107 pound pumpkin, followed by third place winner John Allan whose pumpkin weighed in at 96 pounds. Honourable mentions went to fourth place winner Tim Hilger and Tim Neufeld in fifth place.
Entries weighed in from 28 pounds and up. Although the light weights obviously weren’t going to place in the weight competition, they could be eligible for the ugliest or prettiest pumpkin prizes. After much deliberation, it was decided the Eastwood’s pumpkin would take the prettiest pumpkin award and Tim Ehrman claimed the prestigious ugliest pumpkin honours. At the end of the day, a pumpkin may be ugly on the outside, but it still tastes good on the inside.
Contestants submitted videos of their pumpkins being weighed to the facebook page before the October 11th deadline. Some contestants were disappointed they didn’t beat the weight of their last year’s entry, such as Dave Wagman who placed first in 2019 with a whopping 163 pound pumpkin, and Tim Hilger who placed second with a 143 pound entry. Those weights will be difficult to beat, but like people in Saskatchewan are fond of saying, “There’s always next year” to try again.
Everyone’s hoping the pumpkins keep growing bigger along with the number of entries, so the Pumpkin Growers can continue making larger contributions towards projects in their community. Even Peter, the pumpkin eater couldn’t grow something as big as that, while having a whole lot of fun and giving back to the community. And after the winners receive their prizes, they’ll happily be able to drink a toast to themselves and their prize pumpkins.
PHOTOS
L-R: Tim Neufeld - 5th place, Tim Hilger - 4th place; John Allen - 3rd place, Dave Warman - 2nd place. Missing: First place winner: Lance Wenzel
Tim Ehrman’s “Ugliest Pumpkin”