By MICHELLE MILLER
Staff Writer
Organizers were expecting
Cooperstown’s PumpkinFest to
be the biggest ever, but Mother
Nature did not cooperate.
The annual festival is organized
by the Cooperstown Chamber
of Commerce and spokesperson
Angela Chadwell said, ``If the
weather would have held out we
probably would have had more
people.’’
Chadwell said she was still
impressed with how many people
came ``just to watch,’’ growers
compete in the Giant Pumpkin
Weigh-off held in Doubleday
Parking lot Saturday.
The weigh-off, where growers
of pumpkins, tomatoes, gourds
and watermelons competed for
the largest pay-out in the country,
was scheduled to begin at 10
a.m., but was delayed because of
heavy rain. Once the festivities
got started there were 60 different
fruit (having seeds) weighed.
This was not a record amount for
the event, said Chadwell.
Chadwell said the rain did not
only interfere with the event itself,
but it had a pretty big impact
on the growing season as
well. Growers came from as far
as Pennsylvania, but growers
from Rhode Island had bad
weather to contend with this year
so they did not show, said
Chadwell. She said growers from
New York State did not have the
success they normally do because
of too much rain rotting pumpkins.
Chadwell said Cooperstown
resident John Lohan had entered
12 pumpkins into the weigh-off,
but several rotted ust a day before
the event.
The Lohan family was still
very well represented at the
event, however. Liz (mother),
John (father), and their two children
nine-year-old Megan and
seven-year-old Brendan each had
two pumpkins and a squash at
the weigh-off. The Lohans were
the top competitors in Otsego
County— Brendan placed first
his 573.5 lb pumpkin, John second
with his 498 lb pumpkin, Megan
third with her 471.5 lb monster
and Liz fourth with a 424.5
lb. orange giant.
Liz said her family began
growing pumpkins in their back
yard after going to the first
PumpkenFest held in Cooperstown
five years ago. She said her
kids were fascinated by the giant
pumpkins, so they took home free
seeds from the event to see what
they could grow.
``We grew 400 lb pumpkins, so
we decided to enter them,’’ Liz
said.
Liz said she and her family
only compete locally at Pumpkin-
Fest. Growing pumpkins for competition
is a lot of hard work, especially
in the beginning stages
with all the weeding, said Liz.
The Lohans said they plant
their seeds in the house on May 1
and then plant them outside
about two weeks later. They said
growing large pumpkins takes a
lot of watering throughout the
season.
Thirteen-year-old Carly Andrews
came all the way from
Long Island to enter her watermelon
in the weigh-off. She said
it was her fourth year growing
watermelon, but only two have
made it to the Cooperstown competition.
During her first year,
Andrews said she did not have
much luck growing a large watermelon,
only being able to grow
one 13 pounds. The third year
she said she hit a rough patch
when her crop rotted two days before
making her three-hour journey.
Andrews said she had something
to smile about in 2006 when
her watermelon came in first
place weighing 77.5 pounds.
Pumpkin weights were down
from last year when a 1,376-
pound pumpkin won first prize.
Randy and Deb Sundstrom of
Walton won the grandprize of
$4,000 for the largest pumpkin.
It weighed in at 1,248 pounds.
The Sundstroms came in second
place last year. Karl Haist of
Clarence Center won the squash
and watermelon competitions.
His squash weighed 1,177
pounds and his watermelon
weighed 110.5 pounds.
John Hilstolsky, of Pennsylvania,
had the biggest
tomato of the day. It
weighed 2.16 pounds. Vickie
Reynolds, of Pennsylvania,
had the longest gourd
measuring 95.5 inches.
Rain on Sunday held off
long enough for the regatta.
According to Chamber
office manager Elise Schiellack,
the pumpkin race in
Otsego Lake is by far the
most popular event of
PumpkenFest.
Chadwell said the linedup
spectators showed how
popular the event is. She
said she believes a record
number of people came to
watch the hollowed-out
pumpkins race.
Sixteen-year-old Courtney
Yonce, of Cooperstown,
said she certainly looks forward
to the regatta. Yonce
said she began competing
in the event last year for
Best Western when another
person backed out at the
last minute.
``It’s fun and really exciting,’’
she said.
Chad Welch, representing
Smith Ford Cooperstown,
won the first heat of
the pumpkin regatta.
Two races, one for PumpkinFest
competitors, the
second, an open class, were
run afterward.
