One Big Pumpkin: Conn.'s Largest Hits 1,449 Pounds
A Preston man has a way with growing gourds.
Jason Traylor has a way with gourds and he’s reached a level of record-breaking success. The giant pumpkin he entered into the Durham Fair us now Connecticut’s biggest pumpkin, according to fair officials.
"I made them cover the scale with a piece of paper. I had my wife tell me what the second number was, because I knew it was either 1300 or 1400 pounds, so when she said a four it just made my day," said Traylor.
Traylor’s 1,449.5 pound pumpkin smashing the old record by 96.5 pounds. Now, the Preston man is the state’s a record-breaking pumpkin grower.
For 41 days, Traylor helped the squash grow. It gained, on average, 30.5 pounds per day. "With a little homework and the right seed, anything's possible," he said. The Durham Fair has a knack for attracting the biggest pumpkin in the state. This is the third year in a row it’s had a state record holder.
He breaks the record Bart Toftness set in 2007, 1,171 pounds, and the record Matthew DeBacco set in 2008 with a 1,353-pound pumpkin. He’s still short of the record. According to Pumpkin Nook, a Rhode Island man brought a 1,689 pound pumpkin to the Topsfield Fair in Massachusetts in 2007.
Posted Friday, Sep 25, 2009 - 6:12 AM EST
