Message Board - BigPumpkins.com

The GPC recognizes the pumpkin in the year it is grown.
If the world record is broken in New Zealand in April of 2012 then it is for the 2012 Calendar year.
The grower will be entitled to GPC awards and moneys for 2012 if weighed at a GPC site.
If the record is again broken in Sept/Oct in the Northern Hemisphere the New world record will be recognized at that time and be awarded the record at our 2013 convention.
If the fruit is weighed at a non GPC site, it unfortunately would not be recognized.

3/8/2012 9:36:08 AM

DARKY (Steve)

Hobbiton New Zealand

Eddy if a pumpkin got weighed at a non GPC site are you saying the GPC would not reconise it as a world record or are you saying the world would not reconise it?

3/8/2012 12:03:28 PM

flying dutchman

Port Alberni, BC, Canada

Thanks Eddy. I basically agree with the GPC position on the calendar year. However, I tend to also agree with Steve that it becomes a record the moment it hits the scales PROVIDING that the scale is certified and there is photographic proof and is properly witnessed. I accept that the GPC can only recognize fruit grown at GPC sites but if a record is broken at a non GPC site, then, in my humble opinion, it becomes the new record untill such time it is broken.

3/8/2012 12:05:44 PM

The world record can be weighed anywhere and be recognized by the Pumpkin community but it would not fall under GPC rules for recognition and or prize monies if it is weighed at a non GPC weigh off.

3/8/2012 1:04:52 PM

1000lber

Bit difficult to weigh at a GPC site when there are none.

3/8/2012 6:35:36 PM

The GPC is always open to discussion, irregarless of the location or how close you are to having your weigh off.

3/8/2012 7:11:10 PM

irregardless, spelling error

3/8/2012 7:11:39 PM

macivo

New Zealand

if someone anywhere in the world grew a one ton pumpkin and had pictures, measurements and respectable witnesses, i'd be surprised if the general pumpkin growing community didnt respect the pumpkin.
for alot of growers, prize money and a ribbon is not the goal.
we down here in kiwiland might be way behind you guys up there, but watch out.... we are very resourceful and learn quick...... we are some of the best inventors and can doers in the world.

split the atom....us, climbed mt everest....us, jet boat.....us, first women to vote.... us, biggest dairy producers..... us, and some might say the first to fly an airplane.... but alas we are only 4 million people and have no clout in the world.

us kiwis, and our cousins the ozzies are in the big pumpkin game now and will give you guys a good run.... its just some of us are still learning to walk :-)

3/9/2012 2:18:07 AM

pap

Rhode Island

the majority of people in our hobby doe not care who you are, the color of your skin, where you lay your head or your importance in the world.
all most care about is growing and sharing in a common goal to be outside, growing something that brings you joy and even make a few new friends that twenty or so years ago? you would never have met.
over the past ten years many growers outside of canada and the usa have made great strides.a world record from these areas at some point would not surprise me at all.

3/9/2012 7:53:58 AM

CliffWarren

Pocatello ([email protected])

Does the GPC have a way of declaring a properly weighed fruit, even if only one, as a GPC weighed fruit when no other options exist? I think this is what Eddy is trying to say. That is, if someone has no reasonable options for weighing with the GPC, but is contacting the GPC and asking for guidance, making sure it's done properly... I would think there should be a way to bring the "weighoff" within the banner of the GPC.

3/9/2012 10:46:34 AM

New Zealand

Eddy If a world record is grown and certified with all the proof to support it but weighed at a non GPC site would you call it a world record?

3/9/2012 10:13:36 PM

New Zealand

We understand it wouldn't qualify for prizes money or awards but would you call it a world record?

3/9/2012 10:17:38 PM

Are you asking me personally??? If you are and everything was documented, photgraghed, judged etc, I would consider it for sure.
As I said previously, unfortunately the GPC would be unable to recognize the fruit because it wasn't weighed at a GPC

We

3/9/2012 11:12:16 PM

Dale M

Anchorage Alaska

So Eddie,.. if someone grew a WR at a non GPC event and Guinness Book declared it the worlds heaviest pumpkin, your saying in the GPC's point of view it doesn't count.. that it doesn't exist..?? just curious..

3/10/2012 12:51:21 AM

New Zealand

Eddy I was asking you personally but your answer does not seem definitive. What does [consider] mean exactly. If it was the heaviest pumpkin ever grown would you call it a world record yes or no?

3/10/2012 3:48:10 AM

Dutch Brad

Netherlands

The GPC does not have the authority to define a world record or not. They are in charge of providing rules for GPC weigh-offs. Eddy rightly explains that the GPC can't honor records outside of their responsibilty. At the same time I wonder if they can claim a WR at one of their own weigh-offs while knowing that at a non-GPC weigh-off a heavier pumpkin was officially weighed.

While Guinness does have a certain reputation for being official, they do make mistakes once in a while, but generally they do a good job.

I know a few people are beginning to work on an international association that involves all the major classes of giant vegetables (of which pumpkins are only one) and if they are able to gain support from the major giant vegetable shows, then they would seem to be a decisive authority on world records, including that of pumpkins.

3/10/2012 5:33:25 AM

Dale of course it will exist, it's a world record, BUT the GPC would be unable to recognize it. If we did, it would be unfair to all the clubs and individuals that support the GPC.
Here is an Example for you: Ray Waterman holds a weigh off that is non GPC sanctioned. If one day someone breaks the world record at his site, it will in fact be a world record.
It would not be recognized by the GPC because his weigh off is not GPC sanctioned.
This means that the Bryson world record will still be the one to beat as far as the GPC is concerned.
Understand that Ray Waterman has the World Pumpkin Confedration. So he is in fact a seperate entity, or for the sake of better terminology, a competetor of the GPC.
Any other non GPC sanctioned weighoff would be treated the same.
Personally, Ray Waterman and myself get along great, we trade seeds etc. So Ray don't take offense to me using you as an example.
We as an organization need to adhere to the rules and regulations we ask all our clubs to follow. It just simply isn't right to bend the rules for a non GPC fruit, world record or not.

3/10/2012 11:38:49 AM

Whiskybravo, until the senerio plays out I can't give you an answer without all the facts like who certified the scale, who inspected the fruit, who witnessed it, etc.
Let me explain it this way:
Ron Wallace grew the freak 1789, it wasn't officially weighed at a GPC sanctioned event, Was it real, by all accounts Yes. Does it exist outside the GPC absolutely, will I grow it Yes. but unfortunately it isn't listed anywhere on the GPC site.
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/WeighoffResultsGPC.aspx?c=P&y=2011
hope that explains my stand.

3/10/2012 11:55:48 AM

Dale M

Anchorage Alaska

Thanks Eddie.. I see where you are coming from . makes sense to me now..

3/10/2012 1:20:47 PM

Ray

Hamburg, NY

Rules are rules! The idea behind an organization is to provide a even playing field and verify credible records. And we all want to see a 2,000 lber. Dutchman, In the spring (N.H.) of 1985 I was visited, at our family restaurant in Collins NY by a New Zealander by the name of Brian Chamberland. He initiated giant pumpkin growing in Zland (that was for Wiz and EddyZ). Here is a transcript of his participation during the World Pumpkin Confederation Conference call (before the internet!)on Monday, October 14, 1985: "Hello, and very nice to be speaking to you all. Its 4 o'clock in the morning here in New Zealand and of course opposite from the Northern Hemisphere - it's springtime here so while you're enjoying your harvest up there we are just getting under way with planting all of our pumpkins in New Zealand. I am involved in two organizations, Federated Farmers (of New Zealand) which is the farmers lobby group down here in New Zealand; and I am also a rural broadcaster on a radio station called "Radio Pacific" in South Auckland and through this station we have organized to take part in the 1986 Competition. Many of our listeners have planted seeds which were sent down to us by Ray (for the WPC). We will be having our weigh-off for the 1986 Competition at the "Easter Show" which will be held in Auckland in Easter 1986. It's a very big show, which town and country people get together at. Some half million people visit each year. It takes place over 5-6 days at Easter Time and we are really looking forward to growing some very big pumpkins and being part of the 1986 Competition." This is how and when it started in New Zealand. /Ray

3/10/2012 10:17:50 PM

flying dutchman

Port Alberni, BC, Canada

Ray, are you suggesting that if you don't belong to an orginization that the playing field isn't even? Are you also suggesting that only organizations can verify credible records? I don't think so. I agree with you that rules are rules. The GPC and WPC must abide by their own rules. However, there are pockets of growers around the world that are too few to belong to either orginization because of remoteness, the cost of membership,etc. As far as I'm concerned, their field is as even as mine.

BTW Ray, I'm not totally unfamiliar with the WPC. I weighed in a pumpkin at the Van Dusen Botonical Garden in Vancouver in 1992 under the WPC banner.

3/11/2012 3:06:54 AM

New Zealand

Eddy here is a scenario. A 1900 pound pumpkin is weighed in Australia at a competition on scales certified by sensetronic {official scale specialists] It is witnessed and checked for breaches by the judges of the competition. A justice of the peace also checks the pumpkin after reading the GPC rules and confirms it is sound and weighed accurately. Coincidently the Wiz is in Ausy watching the girls beach volleyball and decides to check out the pumpkin and also verifies its sound and is weighed accurately. Would you call it a world record?

3/11/2012 4:38:00 AM

New Zealand

When a world record is announced by the GPC we in the southern hemisphere don't hesitate to accept it. We haven't seen it in real life but readily accept it because we trust the competition to be fair and decent. Also the pumpkin community don't dispute it adding to our faith in the record. We don't have anything to do with the GPC but we still respect it and the records they endorse. We don't reject their records because they weren't weighed at our competition under our rules. Don't the rest of the pumpkin community deserve the same respect to have their records recognised by the GPC even though they are unable to weigh at a GPC sanctioned site? Its fair that the GPC has their own competition and if your not in that competition you can't win it or be eligable for awards ect. But a world record is much bigger than 1 competition!

3/11/2012 5:12:40 AM

Ray

Hamburg, NY

Dutch,
"Ray, are you suggesting that if you don't belong to an organization that the playing field isn't even?"

Sometimes - especially where money(and fame) is involved! i.e. Clarence NY where "any colored fruit" is eligible for the pumpkin class prize. It's not GPC so money trumps credibility. Can you imagine a green world record pumpkin? I petitioned Guinness Book to differentiate the two in the early '80's, otherwise we would have green pumpkins. Also in the great "Down Under" an acorn squash is called a "pumpkin"!

"Are you also suggesting that only organizations can verify credible records?"

No - and I've received "the 3 a.m. phone call!" And, I've also grown the largest pumpkin in a year which went unofficial because of a split. And, I've also verified claims for Guinness Book of Records, where an Australian world record cucumber was a Chinese wax gourd!

Stay cool iceman!

Ray Waterman

3/11/2012 7:51:15 AM