Pumpkin Chuckin' -- What More Can I Say?

Last weekend my Dad and Sue were visiting.  I don't remember how, but I found out that the neighboring town of Amesbury was having Pumpkin Chuckin' Fest.  What?!  There was absolutely no way we could resist, so off we went!

It.  Was.  Awesome.

This was a group of professional pumpkin' chuckers.  There's even a World Championship Punkin Chuckin!  And unlike the MLB World Series, it really is international -- beyond Canada.  Anyway, I bring this up because this group has won both second and third place on different years.  The year they won second place, they chucked their pumpkin over 1500 feet!  That's over a quarter of a mile!  We watched a number of chucks, and it was amazing.  Most of them went over the trees into the woods, but a few fell short.  The ones that fell short were fun because we got to see the pumpkins explode.  Who doesn't like to see exploding pumpkins?*

Here are some pictures:

Above: This is the chucker, designed and created by the team.

Above: These are their second and third place trophies.

Above: This is the direction they were chuckin'.  The majority of the pumpkins went flying into the trees at the top of the hill.  (This is a sledding hill, by the way.  Come on, snow!) 

Above: This guy is loading the pumpkin into the slingshot.

Above: So, a bicycle is attached to the contraption.  As the guy cycles, the big, blue rubber bands (to the left) tighten.  The bands are what slingshot the pumpkins.  This guy starts out pedaling all easy-peasy.  Then he starts to struggle and even has to stand up to continue tightening the bands.  This is no easy job.

Above: Amongst the crowd watching the chuckin' was Santa.  Do not ask me why.  Perhaps enjoying his last holiday before toy manufacturing and list-checking takes up all of his time?

Below: Randomly, a turtle/tortoise (I don't know the difference) was also there.  He was fantastic and -- against stereotype -- was quite fast!

The next World Championship Punkin Chuckin' is November 2-4 in Delaware.  I beseech you, if you live anywhere near Delaware, please go and tell me all about it.  Hopefully I'll be able to go next year.

*I am not condoning the exploding of people's Halloween pumpkins.  That's just mean.  Though feel free to explode your own.