While he did not break his record set last year, the champion from the 2006 Rainy River Valley Giant Pumpkin Festival repeated as champion this year with a 902-pound entry.
Ben Johnson of Kakabeka Falls was crowned for the third time in the 13-year history of the event, taking home $1,000 and the “Golden Hoe” Award for his efforts.
At 902 pounds, it was well below his 1,173-pound winner from a year ago.
Johnson attributed the smaller giant to the weather conditions.
“We had cooler than normal nights in August this year,” he noted. “That really slowed things down.”
Johnson nearly lost his prize-winning pumpkin back in July when the end began to split.
“I gave it too much water too fast, and then we had a big downpour of rain and intense heat,” he explained.
Using a fungicide paste and backing off the watering until it healed, Johnson nursed the champion back into contention. Once it healed, he brought the watering back up to speed.
“At its peak, I was giving my two plants 45 gallons of water per day,” he noted.
(Yes, he has another plant, which he left another pumpkin back home on the second one. This coming weekend, they will have their own giant pumpkin festival in Thunder Bay, where he will enter that one, as well).
Johnson said Don Cronk of Thunder Bay, last year’s runner-up and a former festival champion, had a 700+ pound pumpkin grown from last year’s champion’s seeds.
But it split wide open on him.
“He does have another one growing but he is saving it for our festival,” Johnson added.
Coming in second and third this year was rookie grower Dale Hughes of Devlin. His 632-pound and 452-pound entries earned him $500 and $100, respectively.
He also received the rookie-of-the-year award (the “Silver Watering Can”) and the hidden weight (451 pounds), which was worth $100.
The top junior grower this year was Serena Godin, whose 445-pound pumpkin earned her $100.
Her sister, Kenzie, was second with a 443-pounder ($50) while Kyle Olson finished third at 402 pounds ($25).
< *c>Other winners
The pumpkins nearest to awards went to:
•100 pounds—Jaden/Branden Gustafson & Ron Lemmon ($50);
•200 pounds—Carla Armstrong ($50);
•300 pounds—Dorothy Wiersema ($75);
•400 pounds—Kyle Olson ($100); and
•500 pounds—Dale Hughes ($100)
Other awards went to Kenzie Godin (Ugliest Pumpkin), Cliff McLain (Most Attractive Pumpkin and Distance Award), Dorothy Wiersema (Best Pumpkin Dessert and Best Pumpkin Pie), Marion Haddock (Best Vegetable Display), and Aarron Armstrong (Best Sculpted Vegetable)
Chalina Abraham took first place for the Best Decorated Pumpkin, with Jared Vandenbrand taking second. Tyler Lundgren had the Oddest Overall Vegetables while Olga Sirman was second.
Amber Winik won $75 in the Guess the Pumpkin’s Weight contest (279 pounds).
And the pumpkin seed-spitting contest winners were Branden Gustafson (13’4”), Kyle Olson (15’), and Tom Shumaker (22’11”) in the child, youth, and adult categories, respectively.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
