There’s going to be plenty of pumpkin pie to go around in the tiny town of Tynsboro, Massachusetts. Jamie Graham of Tynsboro topped the record for the largest pumkin this past weekend at the Topsfield Fair. His giant gourd weighed in at a astounding 2,480 pounds! The new giant pumpkin record smashed last year’s record by 185 pounds.
You can see the blue ribbon pumpkin winner on display through October 10, the last day of the fair. The New England Giant Pumpkin Growers Contest is one of the most popular events, every year, at The Topsfield Fair. According to the Salem News, Graham (who came in 2nd place last year), has been chronicling the journey of the winning pumpkin on social media, from TikTok to Instagram and YouTube. He also told the Salem News, that his kids named the gourd Bear Swipe. And revealed to the news outlet that his prize earnings were $6,500 for first place, and he recieved a $2,022 bonus for breaking the Fair record.
The pumpkin competition at Topsfield has been going on since 1984. In case you were wondering, the winner that year was a pumpkin grown by Wayne Hackney of New Milford, CT and it weighed 433 pounds. Look how far we’ve come in the great gourd game!
So, what in the world do you do with a pumpkin this big, after it’s been grown and shown? A jack-o-latern could be a fire hazard. You could make a LOT of pumpkin pie. Or you could get creative, I guess. You could carve it out and make a playhouse. You could put a ladder up the side and make it a slide. Or find inspiration here: