69´«Ã½

Ariana Paz won a contest organized by the county's 4-H program that culminated with a weigh-in Saturday afternoon at the Ward W. O'Hara Agricultural & Country Living Museum.

Ariana, who won a variety of seeds and candy for having the heaviest pumpkin in the contest, told 69´«Ã½ she was "really happy" with it and plans to put it on her porch for Halloween.

The Big Moose variety of pumpkin was planted on June 26. The tricks to growing such a big gourd, Ariana said, were giving it a lot of water and using black plastic and straw to prevent weeds. She was helped by Morgan's Half Acre Produce in Aurelius, where her grandmother works, and her sister Tina. By the time of the weigh-in, they had to use a jacket to carry the pumpkin. 

"You roll it, one person takes one end, one person takes a sleeve, one person takes a sleeve and one person takes the hoodie," Ariana said. 

The contest required participants to use Big Moose pumpkins and not varieties that grow bigger, namely Atlantic Dill, so the young participants wouldn't need heavy machinery to transport them, said Frank Clarke, an agricultural educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension. Big Moose pumpkins top out at about 150 pounds.

This is the first year of the contest and it was announced in June, so Clarke was pleased that there were 10 registered participants. He told 69´«Ã½ he hopes to grow the contest in the coming years.

"I think it's a fun thing and a great way to get youth involved, whether in 4-H or not," he said.

"(Cornell Cooperative Extension) is more than agriculture and 4-H. We do have something for everyone in the county."

While Ariana's pumpkin was the heaviest on Saturday, hers was edged by half an inch of circumference by one from the Union Springs Culinary Cuisine Club. Their 61.5-inch pumpkin was grown at the school. Club member Aray Colella told 69´«Ã½ the students had a pool to guess its weight, which ended up at 80.2 pounds.

Colella's mother, Terry, who is in the secretarial group at the school, said she could see it just outside her window.

"I'd try not to look at it because if you see it every day it doesn't look like it's growing," she said. "But it's hard when it's right outside."