Giant Pumpkin Disqualified

Buffalo - It was the same sinking feeling you get when you find an ugly gash on the side of your spanking new car. Only this crack appeared one August day on the side of a colossal pumpkin that Karl Haist Sr. had hoped would win him bragging rights among gourd growers.

But the Clarence Center resident knew the rules of the World Pumpkin Confederation Weigh-Off. Any cracks or holes — even small ones — disqualify a pumpkin from winning the annual contest.

“We were just sick over it,” said Beverly Haist, who helps her husband in the family’s pumpkin patch. Still, having nurtured the giant gourd since May, the couple decided to enter it in Saturday’s competition. They plugged the crack with putty and hauled it by truck to the Great Pumpkin Farm on Main Street in Clarence. It weighed in at 1,260.5 pounds, the biggest pumpkin of the bunch — and 52 pounds heavier than last year’s winner.

Of course, the pesky crack that occurred naturally during the growing process doomed its fate.

Despite the setback, there was a happy ending for the Haists. After judges weighed all 16 entries, they proclaimed one pumpkin the firstplace winner of a $1,000 prize. The 896.5-pound fruit belonged to Beverly Haist, who shared her secret for growing her creation during an unusually dry and hot summer.

“A lot of water,” she said. “The Erie County [Water Authority] loves me.” And don’t forget plenty of cow manure, she added.