Album: 1229-pound pumpkin sets HMB weigh-off record

This year’s pumpkin weigh-off produced yet another record.  Joel Holland of Sumner, WA brought us a pumpkin weighing 1229 pounds, 49 pounds more than last year’s 1180 pound record-setter.  Second place went to Jack LaRue of Tenino, WA at 1160 pounds, and third to Jim Sherwood of Mulino, OR at 1139 pounds.

The weather in the IDES parking lot was hot and windy, but MC George Ginilio and musician Jim Stevens kept the crowd entertained as the pauses between weigh-ins grew as the pumpkins themselves became larger and larger. Toward the end, pumpkins were so heavy they could no longer be slid off the forklift and had to be hoisted onto the scale with a harness suspended from the lift.

Eda Muller of Half Moon Bay took top prize for San Mateo County with her 612 pounder.

Olivia Zunino of Los Altos Hills won the prize for the Most Beautiful Pumpkin with her 487 pound entry, named "Bubbles".

Meanwhile, reporters from the print and electronic media swarmed around successive giants. The world record of 1446 pounds, set in Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada, is safe for the moment.

Complete results can be found on the Pumpkin Festival’s Web site. Click on any image on the right to see the album.