Michelle Shim, 3, can hardly contain her excitement!
Ty Hall, of Kellogg Garden Products, Sponsor and Judge examines an entry.
Linda Hales, Huntington Beach, 35.5 pounds
Perri Williams, Garden Grove, 68.5 pounds
Mae Powell, Pasadena, 111 pounds
Glenn Tanaka, Owner of Tanaka Farms pictured on fork-lift.
Stacey & Wendy Taylor, Laguna Niguel, 150.5 pounds
Russ Jones, Huntington Beach, 189.5 pounds
Kevin Donahue, Mission Viejo, 322.5 pounds
Etha Tovey, Dana Point, 415 pounds
Gary Tovey, Dana Point, 422 pounds
John Gray, Baldwin Park, 502 pounds
Susan Gray, Baldwin Park, 504.5 pounds, and Third Place!
Chris Dunn, Lomita, 795 pounds, and Second Place!
John Sach, Whittier, 991.5 pounds, 2012 Champion Grower
Pumpkin drop to celebrate and honor the 2012 Champion!
(Left to right) Perri Williams, Youngest Grower, John Sach, Funniest Shape,
Mae Powell, Most Experienced Grower,
Stuart Shim, Pumpkinmania Host & Creator,
Chris Dunn, Best Color
John Sach Winner of The 2012 Pumpkinmania!
Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off & Competition!
Good morning, Pumpkinistas!
Under spectacular blue skies and temperatures in the mid-80s with a slight breeze, John Sach, of Whittier, CA, won The 2012 Pumpkinmania Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off & Contest, with his 991.5 pound entry Sally, yesterday, October 28th, 2012 at Tanaka Farms, Irvine, CA. Chris Dunn of Lomita, CA placed second with his entry of 795 pounds, and Susan Gray of Baldwin Park, CA placed third with her entry of 504.5 pounds, just edging out her husband, John Gray, whose entry weighed 502 pounds.
This year's event garnered local and international media coverage. Doug Irving and Cindy Yamanaka of The Orange County Register and Oscar Wu of The Central News Agency of Taiwan, http://www.cna.com.tw were on hand, interviewing contestants, and trying to determine which pumpkin and grower would be crowned as the 2012 winner. Here's the link to The Register's story, plus 11 additional images of the competition: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pumpkin-375989-contest-pounds.html Here's the link to the outstanding story by CNA: http://cnavideo.cna.com.tw/Area/America/Video-1/004315953?v=VdQLSj2PZ0QRcRCjOb8vaw%3D%3D
In a Pumpkinmania! first, John Sach was celebrated by three, crowd-pleasing pumpkin drops, provided by Kenny Tanaka, of Tanaka Farms. Kenny's father, Glenn, was the fork-lift operator, and had a perfect record of unloading, arranging, and loading during Sunday's event.
Winners in other categories included:
Best Color-Chris Dunn
Funniest Shape-John Sach
Youngest Grower-Perri Williams
Most Experienced Grower-Mae Powell (Who is 93 this year! Way to show 'em how, Mae!)
I would like to thank the following individuals and sponsors for their invaluable help, participation and support:
Ty Hall
Mark Imhoof
Lauren Shim
Casey T. Shim
Dr. Kurtis Kanemaru
Wenda Kanemaru
Phil & Christy Concan
Casey N.E. Shim
Brian Gould
Glenn Tanaka
Kenny Tanaka
Greg Thiel
Pete Yeager
Sharon Stolen
Ann Molloy
Sandy Parco
Doug Irving
Cindy Yamanaka
Oscar Wu
John Sumner
Paul O'Neill
Tanaka Farms
HydroFarm
Roadkyll Apparel Graphics
The Orange County Register
Neptune's Harvest Organic Fertilizers
GreenCure Organic Fungicide Products
University of California Cooperative Extension Certified Master Gardeners of Orange County
Beaver Plastics
Wingscapes
Thank you very much to everyone that attended and showed support for their favorite growers and entries!
Finally, the 2013 Pumpkinmania! Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off & Contest will be held at Tanaka Farms on Sunday, October 27, 2013. Please mark your calendars, schedule your planting date(s) for October 27th!
