Washington man's 2,363 pound pumpkin sets record at California contest



HALF MOON BAY, Calif. -- A Sumner, Washington man is the winner of the 44th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off. He had the heaviest pumpkin recorded in the history of the San Francisco Bay Area competition.

And to top that, the top three winners were all from Western Washington.

The Orange County Register reports that a forklift hoisted the giant pumpkin onto a scale and a crowd watched as it was weighed Monday in downtown Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

It registered 2,363 pounds to make it the seventh win for grower Joel Holland.



The giant pumpkin earned the Sumner, Washington, man prize money of $7 per pound.

Holland is a retired Pierce County firefighter.

It's also the second-heaviest pumpkin ever grown worldwide.

Cindy Tobeck, of Olympia, won the competition last year with a pumpkin weighing 1,910 pounds.

Tobeck rode on top of her entry this year as it was brought to the scale, but its 2,002 pounds fell short of Holland's entry.

Third place went to Jeff Uhlmeyer of Tumwater. His pumpkin weighed 1,927 pounds.
























1st Joel Holland Sumner WA 2,363 lbs $16,541
2nd Cindy Tobeck Olympia WA 2,002 lbs $2,000
3rd Jeff Uhlmeyer Tumwater WA 1,927 lbs $1,500