Oswego Crowns Its Great Pumpkin Champ For 2017

OSWEGO – Last year, Chad Tucker placed third with a 1,381.0-pound entry.

This year, the Brushton, NY, resident’s entry was only 1,135.5 pounds. However it was huge enough to claim top honors at the 2017 edition of Oswego’s Great Pumpkin Fest.

“I have been growing great pumpkins for five years now,” he told Oswego County Today. “It’s my second time here in Oswego.”

The only other pumpkin to eclipse the 1,000-pound plateau this year belonged to Ernie Gustinucci of Jackson, Pa.

His 1,066.5-pound entry sat atop the leader board just before the final pumpkin of the day – Tucker’s.

Rounding out the top five were: Steve and Jean Marley – Clinton, NY, (867.0) in third place, Ray Fletcher, Ontario, NY, (489.0) in fourth place, and Eric Gerry LaFayette, NY, (386.5) in fifth place. Gerry is a past champion – placing first in 2006 with a 912.5-pounder.

“The right seed in the right patch at the right time,” Tucker said of his winning entry. “Mother Nature helped with a lot of rain. And we had plenty of warm nights. I was real happy about it.”

Due to several circumstances beyond the organizers’ control, this year’s weigh-in was rather abbreviated.

The Great Pumpkin event’s fate was virtually on life-support as Heathe Jones from Cre8 Studios stepped in with a small complement of volunteers to keep the weigh-in going for another year.

They acquired scales from Niagara Scientific Products with an assist from Novelis.

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