Oct 9, 2007 9:22 am US/Pacific
Monster California Pumpkin Squashes Record
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (CBS) ―
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Men weigh an entry in at a pumpkin festival in Half Moon Bay, Calif. on Oct. 8, 2007.
AP
A new pumpkin festival record was set Monday when the winner of a Northern California annual pumpkin weigh-off came in at a whopping 1,524 pounds.
The grower of the pumpkin, Thad Starr, of Pleasant Hill, Ore., will receive $9,144 for his record-setting pumpkin, reports CBS station KOVR-TV in Sacramento. He won $6 for each pound of pumpkin.
The 34th annual event kicked off the Half Moon Bay, Calif., Art and Pumpkin Festival, which takes place Saturday and Sunday.
About 80 contestants competed for the first-place prize of $7,000 for the heaviest pumpkin, according to festival officials.
Pumpkins were lowered by forklift onto a 5-ton capacity digital scale monitored by officials from the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner's Office.
Approximately $20,000 in prize money will go to the growers of the top 10 heaviest pumpkins and to the top three from the local county. A special $500 prize will go to the most beautiful pumpkin.
The 2006 winner weighed in at 1,223 pounds, according to festival officials.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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