Ken Johnston
The scale of things at the 14th-annual Rainy River Giant Pumpkin Festival was the story this year.
Not only were pumpkins a lot smaller than last year, but organizers had problems with their weigh scale Saturday.
With only 28 pumpkins entered this year, it appeared the weigh-ins would breeze by this year. However, after weighing all the smaller pumpkins with a wheeled scale, a bale scale was mounted on a forklift so the big ones could be lifted up and weighed in front of the audience.
But right from the start it was giving weigh-men Guy Arpin, Robert Tolen, and Richard Short trouble. At first it would not weigh at all. Then when they did get it going, it would not go back to zero after weighing a pumpkin.
After the fourth big pumpkin, the needle on the scale stayed at 400 pounds and the weigh-men decided to scrap the bale scale. They went back to the wheeled weigh scale and re-weighed the four they already had done with the bale scale.
“They [the pumpkins] will all be weighed on the same scale,” stressed Arpin.
The four they already had weighed came out lighter on the wheel scale than the bale one, but at least all were weighed on the same scale.
The switch in scales took up a lot of time and many people that had waited for the weigh-ins left. The crowd had been cut to less than half of that of when they began.
The scale of the size of the pumpkins also went way down this year due to a poor growing season across the region.
Last year’s champ, Ben Johnson of Kakabeka Falls, weighed in a 902-pound pumpkin. This year’s champ, Eltjo Wiersema, tipped the scales at about half that weight (467 pounds) to win the $1,000 first prize.
Wiersema’s wife, Dorothy, took second place (463 pounds) worth $500 while their grandchildren, Skylar, Hayley, and Jackson Arpin, earned $100 for coming in third (434 pounds).
Eltjo Wiersema, who has been chair of the festival committee for the past decade, has never won it before and did not expect to take home the coveted Golden Hoe this year, either.
“It was just a poor growing season this year with no warm nights,” he remarked.
Wiersema did say all three of his family’s pumpkins came from the same plant. “I planted two plants in a 40’x40’ patch and only one plant produced,” he noted.
Giving the plant between 200-300 gallons of river water per day, Wiersema said had he had three more weeks, he would have had pumpkins closer to last year’s winning weight.
Skylar, Hayley, and Jackson Arpin also won the $100 up for grabs for winning first place among the junior growers. Nolan and Aaron Short were second at 371 pounds ($50) while Kira Olson was third at 168 pounds ($25).
Other prize winners included Lynwood Anderson for closest to 100 pounds (102), Dean Skolen for closest to 200 pounds (206), six-year-old Alison Lemmon for closest to 300 pounds (315), Susan McLain for closest to 400 pounds (384), and Eltjo Wiersema for closest to 500 pounds (467).
Lemmon also won the Silver Watering Can as the top rookie.
Leona Skolen won the prize for closest to the hidden weight (260 pounds) with her 255-pound entry.
There were 28 pumpkins weighed in on Saturday totalling 5,516 pounds. The average weight was 197 pounds.
Johnson, the defending champ, did not attend this year. Apparently he had a big one growing, but it split in August.
Former champ Don Cronk also did not make the trip to Rainy River.
Other prizes
•Ugliest Pumpkin—Dianne McCormack
•Most Attractive Pumpkin—Leona Skolen
•Best Decorated Pumpkins—1. Cadence Lundgren 2. Ryder Sinninghe 3. Skylar Arpin
•Oddest Overall Vegetable—1. Jack Elliott 2. Annie Krahn
•Best Vegetable Display—Ben Mast
•Best Pumpkin Dessert—Vivian Hartnell
•Best Pumpkin Pie—Janice Wiersema
•Guess the weight of a pumpkin—Kitty Berube (434 pounds)
•Tallest Sunflower—Nina and Olivia Kreger (12’4”)
•Best Sculpted Vegetable—Jack Elliott
•Distance Award—Cliff and Susan McLain (Kakabeka Falls)
Meanwhile, there were 30 participants in the ever-popular pumpkin seed-spitting contest. The winners were:
12 and under
1. Cole Tymkin (17’7”)
2. Eldon Vandenbrand (15’4”)
3. Wiat Ulricia (14’5”)
13-18
1. Saragh Fraser (17’8”)
2. Emily Fraser (15’2”)
3. Kyle Olson (14’8”)
Adults
1. John Sinninghe (24’9”)
2. Rick Tymkin (22’10”)
3. Corrie Wiersema (22’10”)
(Because Tymkin’s second attempt was farther than Wiersema’s, he was awarded second place).
