1,658-pound pumpkin crushes competition

HALF MOON BAY, Calif., Oct. 13 (UPI) -- An Iowa man's 1,658-pound pumpkin was the winner -- and record-setter -- at the 36th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in California.

Don Young, 45, of Des Moines was awarded $9,948 for topping pumpkins entered by 60 growers from California, Washington and Oregon at Monday's competition in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Event organizers said Young's pumpkin, dubbed the "Monster from the Midway," crushed every giant pumpkin record in the state. It will be displayed at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival during the weekend.

While a gargantuan gourd, indeed, Young's plump pumpkin would not have made the grade at this month's Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers Weigh-In where Nick and Christy Harp of Jackson Township near Massillon beat all comers wit the 1,725-pound pumpkin they grew, WJW-TV in Cleveland reported at the time.