Citrus Heights 1,800-lb pumpkin wins biggest-in-state prize

A brother-sister team from Citrus Heights was recognized this week in a world championship weigh-off for growing the largest California pumpkin entered this year, with the massive gourd requiring a forklift and special harness to be placed on the 5-ton industrial scale.

Ron and Karen Root entered their 1,806-pound pumpkin in the 42nd Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay on Monday, winning a $1,000 prize for the largest California pumpkin entered in the 2015 contest and an additional $2,000 for finishing second place overall. The brother-sister team were narrowly beat by Steve Daletas of Oregon, who took first place with his 1,969-pound pumpkin.

“It’s my personal best,” Ron told the San Mateo Daily Journal, adding he was proud to be “first loser” to Daletas. “He used to be a world-record holder, and is a great guy, so I don’t mind losing to Steve.”

[Related: Citrus Heights pumpkin farm kicks off season with hayrides, corn mazes]

Daletas was awarded $6 per pound for his first-place pumpkin, earning him just under $12,000 for the nearly 2,000-pound pumpkin. A smaller, 1,535-pound pumpkin grown by Ron Root won first place at the contest in 2010, with the Citrus Heights man pulling in $10,210.

According to the pumpkin contest’s web site, the current world record for pumpkin size is 2,323 pounds, set on October 12 last year by a Swiss grower in a weigh-off in Ludwigsburg, Germany.
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