UKIAH’S GREAT PUMPKIN WEIGH-OFF
This year’s champion is a 644-pounder
Ukiah’s first annual Pumpkin Festival (and seventh annual Great Pumpkin Trade- Off), coordinated by Harry Botham and sponsored by Coldwell Banker Realty, took place on Oct. 24, 1992, from noon to 5 p.m. at 444 N. State St. Those who brought two cans of food received a free pumpkin; the canned goods and $800 in proceeds netted from various activities—a drawing to guess pumpkin weights, amount of seeds in a jar, a bake sale— were donated to Plowshares.
More than 100 people participated in the event that showcased the largest pumpkin in California, a 591-pounder grown by Pat Ruelle of Redway.
Botham, motivated to help the hungry from his own personal experience dealing with hunger during World War II, was quoted as saying, “I’m very interested in Plowshares; they received 2,000 cans of food from the festival and we had a lot of fun doing it.”
The following year, Ukiah’s second annual Harvest Holiday Pumpkin Festival, subtitled Carnivale De Calabeza, took place at the Safeway parking lot for another one-day affair with live music, dancing, food booths, crafts, raffles, pumpkin carving, a scarecrow contest and a pumpkin pie eating contest. Proceeds went to the Easter Seals Society of the Redwood Coast to help chil
dren with disabilities and to Plowshares to feed the hungry in the community.
Over the years, the Ukiah Country Pumpkinfest has grown into the largest street fair in the county, a two- day event with a parade, craft vendors, food, fine arts exhibits, a scarecrow city, live music, a haunted house, a children’s carnival, a pumpkin baking contest, the Deep Valley Brew & Wine Festival, the 3- on- 3 hoop tourney, the pumpkin baking contest and, of course, the Giant Pumpkin Weigh- Off.
With no possibility of the event occurring this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in light of imposed restrictions, Ukiah City Recreation Supervisor Jake Burgess and staff looked at what could be done. The children’s coloring contest with four categories was successfully implemented, receiving over 100 contestants with participants picking up the drawing at 411 W. Clay St. or downloading it at home.
“Normally we distribute it to every elementary school child in the area,” says Burgess, “and although we are down from what we regularly receive, the turnout was good.”
And the winners are: Under- 5-year- olds: 1st Ford, 2nd William Gowan, 3rd Addison Allen; 5- 6-yearolds: 1st Harper Maki, 2nd Neo Marshall, 3rd: Presley Niko; 7- 9-year- olds: 1st Carmen Lopez, 2nd Valeria Lugo, 3rd Lrya Marmon; and 10-12-year- olds: 1st Ida Marshall, 2nd Natyia Whipple, 3rd Taylynn A.
Not to be completely deterred, they went ahead with plans for the Great Pumpkin Weigh- Off that took place on Friday afternoon with contestants bringing their behemoth squash behind the Civic Center to be weighed and judged.
“With this event going back 28 years officially and then even into the ’80s, we really wanted to have the Weigh- Off,” says Burgess. “There are competitors who are growing pumpkins from the distribution of seeds from last year’s winners.”
Burgess relates some stories of the perils of attempting to grow a giant like this.
A pumpkin in Willits was eaten by a critter; one grown from the seeds of last year’s winner rolled down a hill and smashed into a thousand pieces just after being cut off the vine; and two just outgrew themselves and collapsed.
“With overwatering and overfeeding, that’s common,” he says.
The turnout was good this year with 14 entries. The record was 25 with one year having only10 contestants.
Leland Horneman and Beau Jackson, both of Potter Valley, arrived in the late afternoon with the fruit of their labor in the back of a pickup truck.
Horneman grew his in a big gopher patch, watered it a lot and gave it a lot of food. Hoping to have grown something weighing as much as he weighs, he was delighted to see the scale register at 241 pounds, almost exactly his weight.
Jackson says he has entered many of these contests, with some of his pumpkins weighing more than this year’s (10th place) 190-pound entry.
“I gave it a lot of love— dirt, water and food,” he says.
The second-place pumpkin brought in by the Ronjoin family weighed in at 638 pounds, grown from a seed—made available to the public — from last year’s winner, the 840-pounder grown by Shelby Medina in Covelo.
Scott Harrison and his wife, Terry Paul- Harrison, grew two grand white pumpkins in Upper Lake— seventh-place 286 and 202 pounders—from a seed company in Canada.
They have been competing for the last 10 years and usually place in the top 10 giving their pumpkins, “lots of good fresh compost, blood meal, bone meal; feeding them every 2 to 3 weeks with a heavy shot of fertilizer.”
Beautifully white, he keeps them covered with a plastic sun shade to stop them from turning orange too soon which can cause their skins to harden and their skins to split.
And with this year’s judging complete, Ben Fillmore’s record-holding 1,109- pounder grown in Talmage in 2008 still holds the title.
All of the pumpkins are on display outside City Hall through Halloween and the grand winner, John Mendoza’s 644-pounder—as in years past—will be carved into a Jack- o’-lantern by José Ruiz, building maintenance lead worker, using not a kitchen knife but a Sawzall and a Dremel.
Sponsors include: Adventist Health Ukiah Valley, North American Organics, Savings Bank of Mendocino County, Hillside Health Center, Ukiah Co- op Natural Foods, Ukiah Waste Solutions, KWINE and Max 93.5 FM.