Move over, Great Pumpkin. You've got some competition.
The winning gourd at Monday's 48th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay literally weighed (over) a ton, tipping the scales at 2,191 pounds. Jeff Uhlmeyer traveled 15 hours from Olympia, Washington, using buckets of water to keep his prize-winning pumpkin's stem hydrated.
Ulhmeyer won over $19,000.
It wasn’t the biggest pumpkin the competition has seen, as last year's winner weighed in at 2,350 pounds. But the annual tradition remained a local favorite.
Kids sat on hay bales, and adults took bets guessing pumpkin weights. Ben Commons was particularly experienced, guessing on sight that Uhlmeyer’s winning pumpkin would weigh more than 2,100 pounds.
"It's from years of watching, and you can guesstimate by the size of the pumpkin how much it's gonna weigh," he said.
Folks waved to each other up and down Half Moon Bay’s Main Street. The Half Moon Bay High School band played, clad in their orange and black rugby shirts while the director wore matching orange shoes.
Orange is the color of the season in Half Moon Bay, and it’s a favorite time for local Steve Pfeiffer.
"It's just fun," he told KCBS Radio. "It's still so small-town here that it's just special."
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