UPDATE: Napa's Gary Miller Also Wins $1,000 for "Heaviest Pumpkin from California"

UPDATE: Tuesday, 8 a.m. Oct. 15, 2013
BY BAY CITY NEWS SERVICE

In addition to his $11,900 first-place prize for the biggest pumpkin, Gary Miller of Napa also won $1,000 for the heaviest gourd from California.

Here are the final results from the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Weigh-Off, which took place Monday:
RESULTS:
1st — Gary Miller, Napa CA 1,985 lbs. $11,910
2nd — Tim Mathison, Napa CA 1,894 lbs. $2,000
3rd — Leonard Urena, Napa CA 1,592 lbs. $1,500
4th — Russ Pugh, Santa Rosa CA  1,578 lbs. $1,000
5th — Russ Pingrey, Santa Rosa CA 1,521 lbs. $500
6th — Ian Sigman, Petrolia CA 1,192 lbs. $500
7th — Brock Torresdal, Emerald Hills CA 1,129 lbs. $500
8th — Eda Muller, Half Moon Bay CA 1,104 lbs. $500
9th — John Muller, Half Moon Bay CA 1,064 lbs. $500
10th — Scott Stamp, Camino CA  839 lbs. $500

SPECIAL PRIZES:
Biggest from State of California 
Gary Miller, Napa CA 1,985 lbs. $1,000
Biggest From the Coastside
Eda Muller, Half Moon Bay CA 1,104 lbs. $500
John Muller, Half Moon Bay CA 1.064 lbs. $250
George Armanino, Pescadero CA 382 lbs. $100
Most Beautiful Pumpkin
Vince Zunino, Los Altos Hills $500

The contest is a warm-up for this weekend's  Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival on Oct. 19 and 20.

The weekend-long festival includes music, a "Great Pumpkin Parade" with an appearance by former San Francisco Giants player J.T. Snow, a haunted house, pumpkin-themed foods and treats, pie-eating and costume contests, pumpkin carving and other activities.

Updated 12 p.m. 

BY KARI HULAC and Bay City News Service

A Napa man who grew a record-breaking 1,985-pound pumpkin won the
annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay Monday morning.

Gary Miller's winning gourd has garnered him a prize of $11,910,
or $6 per pound. His pumpkin is the heaviest the 40-year-old contest has ever
seen, contest spokesman Tim Beeman said.

Safeway had offered a bonus of $30,000 if a pumpkin broke the
world record of 2,009 pounds, but Miller's pumpkin came up short of that.
           
Apparently Miller wasn't the only Napa farmer with a ginormous gourd. According to published reports, Napa grower Tim Mathison has already broken the world record over the weekend with a 2,032-pound gourd at a Morgan Hill pumpkin weigh-off. Mathison reportedly said he would be bringing another pumpkin to the Half Moon Bay weigh-off too.

Previously, the current world record was 2,009 pounds. The monster pumpkin was grown by Ron Wallace and set at a weigh-off in Topsfield, Mass. in 2012.

Another award went to the "prettiest" pumpkin, which is judged by
the audience based on color, shape and size.

Vince Zunino, of Los Altos Hills, won that $500 prize for his
good-looking pumpkin, which Beeman described as "magnificent in both the
color and shape."

For the weigh-off, the giant gourds were hauled onto a 5-ton
digital scale using forklifts and special harnesses, with officials from the
San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights and Measures
office overseeing the process.

The three heaviest pumpkins were all grown at farms in Napa,
according to Beeman.
 
The champion pumpkin, along with the top five pumpkins overall, will be on display at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival on October 19-20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information on the weigh-off and festival, call 650-726-9652 or visit www.miramarevents.com.