Pumpkin Chunkin'

A history lesson here:  In 1986 in a blacksmith shop in Lewes, DE, four men were discussing how some college students were throwing pumpkins in order to raise scholarship money.  They wondered how it would be if machines did the throwing, and the first Punkin Chunkin was born.  It was held the first weekend after Halloween (when pumpkins would be plentiful) on a 30 acre farm with 80 people and three machines, and the longest throw was 114 feet.

I think we attended one of the early events and ate sweet potato fries for the first time.......yes, eating is a big part of chunkin.......and tailgating and drinking beer.

Today's PC is held on a 1000 acre farm and is attended by 100,000 people over the 3 day weekend.  The current "world" (it is an international event) record for distance a pumpkin is thrown is 4483 feet and each year that mythical mile is the goal!  There are machines that measure bigger than the first throw way back when.  And over 250,000 scholarship dollars have been awarded over the years, averaging $30-$50 thousand yearly for the past few years.

Hopefully, our pictures will tell the rest of the story.

A cloudy day, it was hard to see the flying pumpkins.

Will rang the bell and won......

a blow-up cell phone.

Then back to the beach,  Will enjoyed getting wet in the surf.