Until I heard the story on NPR’s Morning Edition this morning, I’d forgotten that it’s that time of year again. That’s right! Time for the annual World Championship Punkin Chunkin Contest. This year was their 20th annual contest and it was held from November 3-5. Here are the 2005 Results. I find it amazing that people are getting pumpkins to fly almost a MILE!

For those that are unfamiliar with Punkin Chunkin, it’s an annual contest held in Millsboro, Delaware, where contestants use machines they’ve built to see who can throw an 8-10 pumpkin the farthest. You get three attempts and the pumpkin has to stay intact (otherwise, it’s called a “pie”). :-) Prizes go to the teams who throw their pumpkins the farthest in their category. I couldn’t find the prizes on their website, but the NPR story this morning said they got a gold ring shaped like a pumpkin (or jack’o'lantern) with a green diamond as one of the eyes.

Categories for this contest include:

  • Adult Air Cannons
  • Adult Centrifugal
  • Adult Catapult
  • Adult Trebuchet (See? THEY know the difference!>
  • Adult Human Power
  • Adult Torsion
  • Adult Centrifugal Human Powered
  • Youth 11-17 Air
  • Youth 11-17 Catapult
  • Youth 11-17 Trebuchet
  • Youth 11-17 Human Power
  • Youth 10 & Under
  • Theatrical

When you submit your machine for the contest, you have to make sure you meet the rules for your category.

Make sure you visit their Gallery, because they’ve got cool pictures and tons of video clips of Punkin Chunkin’ in action!

Current music: Gettysburg, Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack, by Randy Edelman