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RECORD WEIGHT ZUCCHINI OLYMPIA GROWN – Christianson’s annual pumpkin festival brought Cindy Tobeck, from Olympia, and other out-of-valley competitors. Tobeck took multiple wins: the largest zucchini, largest field pumpkin, second for giant pumpkin and second largest watermelon. The zucchini is a new national record holder. – Photo by Sarah Walls
After the wind storm Friday night, John Christianson, owner of Christianson’s Nursery, wasn’t sure about the attendance at the next day’s annual Pumpkin Festival. After he spent all morning standing up plants and saving uprooted dahlias, Christianson found the large crowd “a bit of a surprise.” He said, comparing the day to 2019’s turnout, it was as good as they could expect, especially considering the days’ forecast was for rain. But the overcast broke around noon, with bright blue sky and white clouds all afternoon
The winning pumpkin this year was grown by Team Gadberry from Spokane with a weight of 1,527.5 pounds. Cindy Tobeck, from Olympia, took second place. Hers weighed 1,452 lbs. Glen Snodgrass, of Lynden, was third with his 776 pound pumpkin. Mount Vernon resident Steve Radich came in fourth, with a 694.5 pound pumpkin. Prize money was $1,500, first place; $750, second place; $500 third place; and $200, fourth place. The weight of the giant zucchini was not available.
Emma Christianson, the festival’s organizer, said while these numbers are not as high as some years, the fact that these pumpkins even survived the blistering summer was impressive. The second place winner even had an inverted stem due to the heat, she said, but miraculously survived and kept growing.
Farm Animal Rescue and Mentoring (FARM) with ambassador animals, was new. Three very talkative donkeys, some goats and a pig helped the day have a great farm feel to it. The organization works closely with local organizations such as the Humane Society of Skagit Valley and Friendship House.
To find out more about FARM or hire them when a little more braying, is needed visit farmanimalrescue.org.
One family came all the way up from Mill Creek to see the pumpkins and have a family outing. Naveen, Harini and their son Aadvik Kumar were marveling at the large pumpkins and said they had been planning to come to the festival for over two weeks. When asked about his favorite part, Aadvik enthusiastically claimed that he loved seeing the “GIANT pumpkins!”
With lots of good food, pumpkins and squashes for sale and a corner of adorable farm animals, the 2021 pumpkin festival was a hit for all ages.
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