On Oct. 8, I went to a pumpkin showdown in Fairlight. What is a pumpkin showdown you ask? Well, it is where peoplewho have grown these massive pumpkins all year, bring their massive pumpkins to the community hall for a weigh-in and then after the weigh- in the winner is chosen. At the beginning of the growing season everyone gets a chance to place money on a grower's pumpkin. Once the winner is decided, the person who placed money on the pumpkin gets a majority of money for picking the winning pumpkin.
When I first walked into the community hall in Fairlight I was actually shocked at how many people showed up for this event. I did not realize how big it was to the community. There was a steak supper served before hand and everyone got to visit before the scale was set up and the weigh-in started. I mingled with a few of the people in the hall and learned that a lot of people show up for this event. There is a friendly rivalry between growers all season, everyone poking fun at each other. I realized even though there is money involved in this event, most everyone does it just for the fun of it. Got to love small town communities!
Once the weigh-in started I realized just how big some of these pumpkins actually were! A few of them looked like you could a get a few dozen pies out of them but I was informed later on these pumpkins are not good for pies or anything of the sort. There were 17 growers but not everyone had a pumpkin to submit. A few had died during the season but there was still a fair share of pumpkins to be weighed. There were prizes for first to sixth place. Sixth place went to Jack Aulie with a pumpkin weighing in at 73.5 lbs. Fifth place went to Brian Rowley at 94 lbs. Fourth place went to Barry Metz whose pumpkin weighed in at 124.5 lbs. Third place, a pumpkin weighing in at 141.1lbs went to Anna Marie McGonigal. Second place went to Brysen Fowler whose pumpkin weighed a massive 234.5lbs. But then there was Richard Krainyk whose pumpkin weighed in at a massive 315 lbs. This is probably the largest pumpkin I have ever seen in the flesh so to speak but after speaking to Richard after he told me that last year his pumpkin was 607 lbs.! Regardless, this 315 pound pumpkin was still rather large! I asked Richard what his secret was he said, Lots of water and Viterra fertilizer" Brysen Fowler explained that he spent a lot of time with his pumpkin, "good weather and a good seed" is what he said was his secret.
I was glad that I got a chance to go to this event, it's great to see the friendly competitive spirit of this small community, not to mention just spending good times with good people. Thank you to the community of Fairlight for allowing me into their home for this wonderful, interesting event!
