Smashing pumpkins is fun. Sure, it's mean to steal someone's jack-o-lantern and destroy it or – even worse – throw it against the owner's porch. If it's your own, however, and you want to have some fun smashing the head of an effigy a few days after Halloween, then you can indulge in your own catharsis without ruining your conscience.
In Delaware, the act of smashing pumpkins has become a serious hobby. This weekend marks the 24th Annual World Championship Punkin' Chunkin'. This is where you will see how serious the act of volleying pumpkins can be.
John Ellsworth, Trey Melson, Bill Thompson and Doc Pepper founded this event back in the '80s on what seems to have been a dare.
Elsworth gives a little history on the event's official site: "It all started back in 1986 ... We were playing around one day and somebody started talking about throwing pumpkins. There had been an article in a newspaper or on television about some people throwing pumpkins at Salisbury State. A physics class or something. One of us said that they could throw further than someone else and I threw my hat on the ground."
The longest shot that year was 126 feet. Times have changed since then; last year's shot was a little over 4,483 feet by an air cannon named Young Glory III.
How hard can this be? Take a look at how well-made these machines are. This is high-end hobby engineering.
In addition to making these machines massive and powerful, the contestants have some exhaustive rules to follow. To name just a few: the pumpkins must remain intact until they reach impact on the ground, pumpkins cannot be altered in any way and no explosives can be used. Those are a few of the easy ones.
There are different categories in the competition, including an air class, a centrifugal class, a catapult class, a trebuchet class, a human power class, a human power centrifugal class, a torsion catapult class and a theatrical class. Peruse the event's forum page for some clarity on the various categories and what they entail. The denizens of the event seem to be very helpful to the novices.
Other competitions at this event include a pumpkin cooking contest and a chili cook-off. This makes for a perfect weekend. Click here for more information.
