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News Release
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
For Release: October 11, 2002
Contact: Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402
Stephanie Powell 222-4700 ext. 4418

ANNUAL GIANT PUMPKIN WEIGH-OFF DATE MOVED TO MONDAY, OCTOBER 14 BECAUSE OF RAIN

PROVIDENCE - The date of the ninth annual Rhode Island Giant Pumpkin Championship, originally scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, October 12, has been changed to Monday, October 14 because rain is forecast for both Saturday and Sunday, which was the original rain date.

The public is invited to the popular event, which will be held at Frerichs Farm* in Warren. Unloading of the biggest pumpkins grown in Rhode Island will begin at 10 a.m. with the weigh-off scheduled for 1 p.m.

Refreshments will be available, a "pumpkin coach" will shuttle people around, and corn and hay bale mazes will challenge the skill of attendees. It is recommended that the public bring lawn chairs or blankets on which to sit during the weigh-off.

The increasingly popular event is sponsored by the Rhode Island Pumpkin Growers Association and the Department of Environmental Management's Division of Agriculture and Resource Marketing to determine the largest pumpkin grown in the state each year and to crown an annual Rhode Island champion.

Timothy Adams of Wood River Junction won last year's state event with an 832-pound Rhode Island-grown pumpkin. Warren Cole of Warwick set the record for the largest pumpkin grown in Rhode Island in 1998, with a 920-pound pumpkin at the Topsfield Fair in Massachusetts.

Those interested in competing in this year's event or receiving additional information should contact Don Langevin of the RI Pumpkin Growers Association at 508-222-9069 or Ron Newman of DEM's Division of Agriculture and Resource Marketing at 222-2781 ext. 4518.

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*Frerichs Farm is on Kinnicutt Avenue off of Route 103.
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