VIEWFINDER: The Great Pumpkin: 1,393 Pounds

Out of a row of great pumpkins sitting on pallets in the Central Market parking lot Saturday, one stood along as the grandest of all.

Stan Pugh, a Puyallup eye doctor, took home the grand prize at the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off Saturday with his 1,393-pound pumpkin.

“It was looking pretty good,” said his son Scott Pugh, after his dad’s pumpkin was the last to be weighed based on its measurements.

Pugh, who accepted the $2,300 award on his father’s behalf since the elder Pugh is a Seventh-Day Adventist, credited Puyallup Valley soil and fertilizer for helping create such a massive pumpkin.

Stan Pugh also won the Puyallup Fair’s pumpkin weigh-off with a 923-pound pumpkin.

Taking second place with a 1,199-pound pumpkin was Jake Van Kooten who came across the border from Port Alberni, British Columbia to enter.

“Good genetics, good soil, good weather and good luck,” are the keys to big pumpkins, Van Kooten said.

Ryan Ewing of Redmond sported a T-shirt that said, "With pumpkins, size does matter."

His pumpkin came in sixth at 1,028.5 pounds. 

A cool July and August didn’t help the growing season for pumpkins and other produce but the season still produced six 1,000-pound plus pumpkins at the 10th annual contest hosted by Central Market.

The Pacific Northwest Giant Pumpkin Growers Association (www.pnwgpg.com) sponsors this contest.  A separate contest for giant squash also took place.

Central Market’s involvement started 10 years ago as an idea from store merchandiser Rick Peterson, who now works at the Bainbridge store. Nearly 1,000 people turn out now.

“Each year it’s gotten bigger and bigger,” said store manager Joel Larway.

Central Market keeps the top five pumpkins on display through Halloween. Growers use their pumpkins for seeds after the contest, Larway said.

The event also featured world-class pumpkin carver Russ Leno working on a sculpture on an 800-pound pumpkin. 

Pumpkin brats, candied apples and hot apple cider were also served.