OSWEGO, NY – The “backup plan” turned out to be the best.
After a second place finish last year with a 1,149.5 pounder, Joe Pukos took home the top prize at the 2008 Oswego Great Pumpkin Fest with a 1,219.5 entry.
He was followed by Alan Nesbitt with a 1,141.0 pumpkin.
In 2007, Nesbitt came in third, also behind Pukos, with a pumpkin weighing 1,115.5 pounds.
The only thing bigger than the crowd at the 2008 Oswego Great Pumpkin Fest was the pumpkins. A few pesky showers did little to dampen the festive atmosphere.
Nearly three dozen pumpkins were entered. The last two behemoths topped the 1,000-pound plateau.
“This actually was my backup plan,” Pukos admitted. “I had another plant, but real late fouled up and had this as a back up and it grew really, really well. It wasn’t one I had planned to grow but it just took off. My two nicest pumpkins cracked. So, this is actually number three.”
He is from Lester, south of Rochester. There was a lot of rain – “but it wasn’t too bad,” he said. “There were several hail storms but they all just missed me.”
His personal best is 1,231, he said.
“I didn’t have my sprinklers hooked up for almost six weeks,” he said. “Usually, I use like 100 gallons a day. But this year just kept raining and raining and raining.”
The weighing started just before 10:30 a.m. and lasted several hours.
“This year was a rainy start, but a sunny finish. Some of our growers were missing in action because they didn’t have a fruit to bring. The growing season was tough on giants,” explained Connie Cosemento of the Pumpkin Fest Committee. “They need a lot of water, but too much causes rot and if they grow too fast the split or ‘explode.'”
That was the case for many, she added.
“Additionally, many plants got wiped out by wind and hail. The wind takes the huge wing-like leaves and tears them from the stem or breaks them and, of course, the hail makes mince meat. This is damage that the plant does not recover from. However, we had some survivors and are ecstatic,” she said.
Angela Tesoriero of Hannibal was one of the first-time growers entered.
“Last I grew some pumpkins and I had some a little bigger than these,” she said referring to her nearly 200 pound entry. “So this year I said I was going to enter this.”
For 7-year-old Caleb Robinson of APW this was his second year at the festival. He weighed in with a 75-pound pumpkin in 2007. His 2008 entry was 281 pounds.
“Good seeds, a lot of time, effort and a lot of fertilizer,” is what Bob Wayman said it took to grow his 628.0 pumpkin – good for 10th place over all. “My biggest one split on me a couple of weeks ago.”
Several growers noted that they had larger pumpkins that split on them, as well. They blamed it on the wet growing season. Some, like Oswego County, said they had hail damage, too.
Christine DuRoss proved woman can grow giant pumpkins just as well as men.
Her 938.5 entry placed fourth.
“The weather was pretty tough,” she said.
Nesbitt said he’s been doing this for 24 seasons and a little bit of luck always helps out.
“We lucked out this year. A lot of the guys got hit with hail. We didn’t get any,” he said. “This is my personal best. I lost one this year that weighed 1,426, it split open. But those are the break.”
Lou and Marilyn Eck took home the prize for top watermelon with a 52.5-pound entry.
“Three years ago we had one that 132 pounds and two year ago it was 122,” she said.
“It’s been such a horrible year to try and grow stuff,” he added.
“Last year, we lost our entries,” she continued. “We own Goat Hill Farm. Last year, our goat got out and ate everything.”
This year, vandals destroyed their giant pumpkins, she added.
Cody Szatkowski helped Dave McMillan tend to his great pumpkins.
“We’re going to get a double trailer next year and we’re both going to enter,” McMillian said. “He was a big help. He was a big help. He’s ready to grow one on his own and enter it.”
The weather plays a big part in pumpkin growing, agreed Hannibal resident Steve Westcott who earned honors for having the largest pumpkin (664.0) from Oswego County. He grows his organically, he added.
It takes a lot of sun to grow a great pumpkin the great pumpkin growers noted.
Aside from the pumpkin and other weigh-ins, this year’s pumpkin festival had dozens of craft and food vendors set up in East Park, including a wine and cheese tasting event, as well as a wide variety of goods, music and activities.
The results for 2008 are in. The top ten pumpkins are:
1219.5 Joe Pukos
1141.0 Alan Nessbsitt
947.5 Tim Finn
938.5 Christine DuRoss
927.0 Brian Staring
823.5 Walt Mirriam
760.5 Jeff Alberts
760.5 Dave Schaeffer
664.0 Steve Westcott
628.0 Bob Wayman
Squash:
512.5 John Soehner
Watermelon:
52.5 Louis Eck
Longest Gourd:
62.75 inches Richard DeLapp
Heaviest Tomato:
2.5 lbs Steve Westcott
2.5 lbs Jennifer Goodsell
Other awards:
Dick Pratt Award from George Krul:
$50 to Mike Tesoriero (for most enthusiastic)
Oswego County largest pumpkin:
Steve Westcott $100
Farthest away grower:
Dave Schaeffer $100
Closest to “hidden weight:”
Henry Grunert a rototiller provided by Raby’s Ace Hardware
Howard Dill Award (developer of Atlantic Giant pumpkins) for most orange pumpkin:
Dave McMillan (an engraved plaque)
Drawing for the Krul Lifter (designed and made by George Krul to lift the giants):
Jeff Gibbs
Almost top 10 award (9 lbs. of the coveted Neptune fish fertilizer) by Neptune:
Steve Greene in 11th place.
In 2007, Bill Bobier’s pumpkin weighed in at 1,405.5 pounds – the biggest the Oswego Great Pumpkin Fest has ever seen.
It blew past the 912.5-pounder that captured first place for Eric Gerry from 2006.
And, it edged out Dave Schafer’s 1,081.5-pound entry from 2005.
The previous top weight was 1,100 set six years ago, also set by Bobier.
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