Catch-up

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I am just now catching up from last weekend’s e-mails.  Congrats to all on an excellent year.  Some really big fruit have come and will be coming out.  Most people I know on the list have grown personal bests, and that is what it is all about.  I too had a personal best 464.5 lb. SQUASH!  It measured 365 lbs, so it was almost 100 lbs (over 27%) heavy.  Grown from the 895 Hester (Brett, you have any more of those seeds left? I sure would like some!)

 

Good to know I can still really cause a ruckus!  I know I started this discussion on SQUASH vs. PUMPKINS.  My mind is migrating toward a compromise that might just make all happy.  There should be one class in which weight rules supreme, an open class.  This should generate the greatest prize money and the fairest judging.  The prizes should run out as far as possible to include many people in the money prizes.  In addition to this, there could be best-of-show prizes for best pumpkin and best squash.  These awards would be based on the judgment of the individual sponsors giving them away.  These prizes may run out one to three positions (or more depending on entries and sponsorship.)

 

This would allow sponsors to choose whether they were sponsoring weight, pumpkins or squash (or some combination thereof.)  This would also solve the question once and for all what the sponsors wanted to see.  Some competitions already do similar judging, sometimes even allowing the general public to vote on the ‘best of show’. 

 

I would think that this would satisfy the ‘Only Oranges’ and the ‘Griping Greenies’ on the list as well as those who are solely after weight.

 

-Gus