RE: WPC rules. Fair?
FWIW....Fantastic accomplishment by Bruce, but I, too, have to agree
with Bill.
God Bless,
Dale E Fisher
daleefisher@starband.net
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pumpkins@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf
Of Bill VanIderstine
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 6:04 PM
To: pumpkins@hort.net
Subject: Re: WPC rules. Fair?
I was going to stay out of this, but with the foolish statements being
made
I can't.
Bruce has grown a great fruit, the biggest to date, I agree.
The rules: as I have read them, does not say the fruit has to make a
weigh
off, they
only say the fruit has to be sound when weighed. That's all ! If you
live
down Under
you weigh according to your growing season, If Bruce had weighed before
split, regardless
of date, it would become a record, since he chose to hold on & it split,
it
now is the largest
damaged fruit ever grown but not the record .Let's not confuse this. The
date weighed is not
a factor but being sound is. Level playing field. Bruce made the
choice. Bill Van
Ps: I'm open to disagreement but please make it private as not to
clutter
the list any more.
At 08:51 AM 9/17/03 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi,
>
>It should be noted that the Whittier pumpkin was a sound pumpkin
>according to WPC rules up until the point that the split was
>noticed by Bruce. If he had pulled the pumpkin at some time
>before that had happened and had it weighed and it had surpassed
>the current world record, then he should have had both titles
>(Guiness and WPC). Since, as I understand it, there is no
>provision for official recognition of a pumpkin by the WPC that
>was weighed early except if it was at an official event (WPC or
>GPC or State Fair), he was forced to wait until some such event
>was offered.
>
>All pumpkins (and vegetables) will eventually rot given enough
>passage of time. Some will last a long time and some others a
>short time. So, in my point of view, the WPC sanctioned events
>represents a contest between those pumpkins that can last the
>longest without having some defect occur until a few rather
>arbitrary dates (the first Saturday in October for example).
>The contests do not necessarily determine the biggest pumpkin
>that year. If the dates for the weigh-offs were pushed back to
>the first weekend in November, how many more pumpkins might
>develop problems and thus be disqualified from being the largest
>pumpkin? If the dates for the weigh-offs were advanced to the
>first weekend in September, how many more pumpkins might be
>included in the race for the biggest pumpkin that might still be
>considered sound? I am not sure what makes the first weekend
>date in October such a fair date. Growers in the south(e.g.
>Florida or Georgia or Arizona) and perhaps other areas of the
>country with longer growing seasons might prefer a November
>weekend instead. Growers in Canada or Alaska might prefer the
>September dates. The November dates would give those southern
>growers extra time to put on those last extra pounds. Who is to
>say they don't have the right to do so if their plants are still
>growing? The Canada growers might want to get the pumpkins
>weighed in September to keep any possible rot (or weight loss)
>from developing in their pumpkins since their pumpkins may have
>already stopped growing and are mature.
>
>During the year that Larry Checkon had his 1100+lb pumpkin, if
>he had had the opportunity to pull his pumpkin early(before the
>Dill Ring had been able to break through) and have it officially
>weighed, then he would have had a sound pumpkin and had the
>world's largest pumpkin at that time. Was it a sound pumpkin?
>Up until the problem, then it sure was it my view.
>
>The only mistake that Bruce Whittier made in my view was not
>pulling his pumpkin before the split occurred and having it
>weighed on certified scales. He probably wanted it to get even
>bigger (don't we all) but he was also hamstrung by the WPC rules
>about when he could get it "offically" weighed. The Guiness
>people are under no such restrictions. They are looking for the
>biggest pumpkin even with the problem. If Bruce had pulled the
>pumpkin before the split, and it had weighed more than Charlie
>Houghton's, what would the WPC position be then? We already
>know what the Guiness position would be. The same as it is
>now.
>
>Comments appreciated.
>
>Steve Smith
>Harrison, TN
>
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