(9 Oct 2007)
1. Giant pumpkin being weighed
2. Wide of giant pumpkin being weighed with crowd looking on
3. Giant pumpkin on scale
4. Woman marking weight of pumpkin on board
5. Another pumpkin being weighed
6. Sign reading "Half Moon Bay World Pumpkin Capital"
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Joel Holland, pumpkin grower from Washington state
"We've actually won the last three years in a row and six times overall."
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Thad Starr, pumpkin grower from Pleasant Hill, Oregon
"I have no experience to draw from and these guys are holding their hands very close so the poker faces are out today."
9. Giant pumpkins on display
10. Young girl taking her picture on giant pumpkin
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Thad Starr, pumpkin grower from Pleasant Hill, Oregon
"It's not about your skills so much when it comes to this level, it's about what the weather deals you."
12. Wide of pumpkin being weighed
13. Scale showing weight of pumpkin, 1384 pounds (628 kilograms)
14. Man in front of giant pumpkin
15. People cheering
16. Pumpkin being lifted onto scale
17. Spectator with pumpkin hat
18. Winning pumpkin being weighed
19. Winning pumpkin grower, Starr cheering
20. Cutaway of people cheering
21. Scale showing 1524 pounds (691 kilograms)
22. Starr with his pumpkin
23. Crowd cheering
24. SOUNDBITE: (English) Joel Holland, pumpkin farmer from Washington state
"This will make about one thousand pumpkin pies."
25. Child with pumpkin
STORYLINE:
An Oregon man won the annual pumpkin weigh-off in Half Moon Bay, California on Monday, presenting a monster specimen which came it at 1,524 pounds (691 kilograms).
Thad Starr, of Pleasant Hill, Oregon, set a contest record with the pumpkin.
He will receive six US dollars per pound, bringing his winnings to 9,144 US dollars.
"It's not about your skills so much when it comes to this level," said Starr, "it's about what the weather deals you."
About 80 contestants competed for the prize, according to festival officials, including Joel Holland who claimed to have scooped the much-coveted prize six times in the past.
Pumpkins were lowered by forklift onto a five-ton capacity digital scale monitored by officials from the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner's Office.
The top five pumpkins at the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival will remain on display throughout the week.
The 2006 winner weighed in at 1,223 pounds (555 kilograms), officials said.
Keyword wacky
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