Giant pumpkin smashes record

OLEY >> A pumpkin named Weirdo smashed the record for heaviest pumpkin at the Oley Valley Community Fair.

Grown by Craig Gardecki of Exeter Township, Weirdo weighed in at 1,477 pounds.

Gardecki won the weigh off for the second consecutive year.

The previous record of 1,233 pounds was set in 2015 with a pumpkin grown by Terry Lash, second vice president of the Oley Fair.

A record also was set in the youth division, for ages 15 and younger, by Brandon Heckman. Heckman’s 970-pound pumpkin, called Muscles, broke his own record of 658 pounds, set in 2017.

The annual weigh off, started in 2014, was the idea of Johnny Noll, said Kristen Stup, a fair committee member.

“He was looking at the pumpkins at the fair and thought that the Oley Fair needs a pumpkin weigh off,” she said. “Thanks to our sponsors, we made that happen. This was our sixth annual pumpkin weigh off.”

The adult pumpkin division with a prize of $500 is sponsored by Grim’s Orchard & Family Farms. The youth division’s prize of $200 is sponsored by the Bleiler Family.

A lot of time and care goes into producing a winning giant pumpkin.

Gardecki and his wife, Dayna, start the seeds indoors in March. Then the seedlings are planted outside in soil heated by underground cable and covered with a greenhouse. Covered plywood is used to lift the pumpkins off the soil to avoid rot.

The Gardeckis used fans to blow air over Weirdo on humid summer days, and tarps to protect it from rain.

HAROLD HOCH - FOR MEDIANEWS GROUP Defending last year’s title, Craig Gardecki set the Oley Fair pumpkin weight record of 1,477 pounds.

HAROLD HOCH - FOR MEDIANEWS GROUP Craig Gardecki set the Oley Fair pumpkin weight record of 1,477 pounds, and for the third straight year, Brandon Heckman won the youth division at 971 pounds.