NEW LONDON -- A giant pumpkin grown in Iowa beat out a New London man's attempt for a world record.
The difference was 65 pounds.
Chad Revier had hoped the combined weight of the three largest pumpkins he grew in his grandmother's garden would earn him the 2009 "Grower of the Year" title from the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth. It's a prize that pumpkin growers from all over the world compete for.
Sanctioned weigh-offs during the last couple weeks, including the final one Saturday in Stillwater, had put the combined weight of Revier's three biggest pumpkins at 4,548 pounds.
Revier had set a new world record, he said, until Don Young from Iowa weighed his last pumpkin Monday in Half-Moon, Calif. That pumpkin weighed 1,658 pounds, which set a new record in California.
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The combined weight of Young's three biggest pumpkins was 4,613 pounds.
"Very impressive numbers," is what Revier had to say about Young's three biggest pumpkins.
News that he'd been denied the world record didn't totally surprise Revier, who is a science teacher at Prairie Lakes Youth Programs in Willmar.
Word travels in the giant pumpkin community and by last week, Revier had been hearing rumors about the Iowa pumpkin grower.
Revier holds the record for the largest pumpkin grown in Minnesota. The 1,579-pound pumpkin he grew this year beat the state record he set last year by 150 pounds.
This article contained information from The Associated Press.
