Punkin' Chunkin' Delaware StylePunkin' Chunkin' Delaware Style
Story and Photos by Bob and Cindy Savage
Publication Date: November 1996
To understand Punkin' Chunkin,' you have to understand Sussex County, Delaware's southernmost county. Covering 946 square miles, Sussex is a combination of many various lifestyles. The saltwater side of Sussex has a unique breed that is made up of individuals raised on the ocean, bays and marshlands of the area. A place where machines are modified to meet the needs of those individuals. Out of the boredom of either too much time at sea or on land, whichever suits, come an event that has grown to be possibly the second largest two-day event in Delaware. Second only to the yearly NASCAR races at Dover Downs, 39 miles to the North. The history of Punkin' Chunkin' was written down in song by local chunker, Bill Thompson, and musician, Dawn Deschaine, in 1989. A segment of the ballad states, "so the challenge was made and the gauntlet was laid, to build a machine to power a punkin' through the air..."
Thus became Punkin' Chunkin,' as Bill Thompson and Trey Melson brought
the gauntlet down on John Ellsworth, challenging him to a dual to see who
could design a machine that would throw their pumpkin the furthest. On the
first weekend in Novemb
er 1986, Thompson, Melson, Ellsworth and
the Burton brothers, Chuck and Darryl, met on Thompson's farm outside Milton,
Delaware with their inventions. Ellsworth's chunker was a combination of
ropes, tubes and pulleys, while Melson's and Thompson's chunker was various
automobile springs welded to a car frame. The Burton's machine was a wooden
pole mounted on a trailer powered by auto springs. One of the spectators,
Larry McLaughlin, maintenance supervisor in a local town, was seen hanging
from one of the poles that day. Local punkin' chunkin' rumors were that
he was caught up in the action and was attempting to throw a pumpkin by
hand. By the end of the day, Thompson and Melson were the victors with a
throw of 128 feet 2 inches.
Over the past eleven years, Punkin' Chunkin' has grown from three teams and small handful of friends competing against each other to 47 teams with 23,000 spectators. Over $18,000 was raised for local charities during the 1995 event. McLaughlin, now President of the Punkin' Chunkin' Association, called it "The Worlds Largest Tailgate Party." In the third year of the chunk, measurements for distance were impossible to obtain since the pumpkins were all landing in the woods. So, the site of the event was moved nearby to Joe Hudson's Eagle Crest Aerodrome, where it continues to be held today.
The four rules to punkin chunkin are:
[1] all pumpkins must weigh between 8 to 10 pounds
[2] pumpkins shall leave thrower intact
[3] no part of the machine shall cross the starting line
[4] no explosives allowed.
In 1995, the Mello Yello team of Captain "Speed" Lackhove set a new world record by chunking a 10 lb. pumpkin 2,655 feet. This year the 11th Annual Punkin' Chunkin' proved to be just as exciting an event as the previous ten. Teams from Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Illinois converged on Eagle Crest to compete for top prizes in one of the five classes of chunkers; youth division, human powered, unlimited class, centrifugal and pneumatic. Team memberships ranged from two members to over thirty. The various types of machines used were as diverse as those who used them.
Our work on the Punkin' Chunkin' started about five weeks before the
event when Larry McLaughlin provided us with numerous articles that had
been written across the country about the event. The event sponsor, The
Roadhouse Restaurant, had set up an office to handle organizing the event.
A local radio station, "93.5 The Beach," began numerous promotions,
and a drive was started to make Punkin' Chunkin' an Olympic Event. ESPN,
Jay Leno and "Home Improvement" producers had been contacted to
request their presence. ESPN and a freelance crew for 48 Hours both agreed
to attend. Leno and Home Improvement producers responded favorably for next
year's programming. About three weeks before the event, signs appeared in
the bean fields next to Eagles Crest advising of the event. By Halloween,
the fences, stage for the bands, and many of the canopies for event crews
were in place.
Friday, November 1, arrived and everything was set to go. Many of the local teams, Mello Yello, Old Glory, Ultimate Warrior, Bad-to-the-Bone and Loaded Boing silhouetted the skyline. By nightfall, more teams arrived and began setting up.
By Saturday morning, more and more trailers arrived in the campground. The Punkin' Chunkin' pit area had been transformed into a landscape of the macabre. Catapults, ramps, trebuchets, cannons and mechanical windmills stood together as if ready to ward off an oncoming invader.
By late morning, approximately 9,000 spectators had arrived and chunkers
were testing their equipment, making changes before the competition started.
On stage, Beatlemania, a tribute to the Beatles, played songs from the Beatles
early years. As the band changed into their late year clothing, Punkin Chunker
Dawn Deschaine and others sang the Punkin' Chunkin' Ballad and National
Anthem. As the band began their second set, the competition began. Targets
were placed over the bean-field to test who could hit them, or come closest.
The church that sat at the end of the target range had a large bulls-eye
on the roof stating "Aim here for Life." All eyes watched as teams
attempted to hit the targets. A local automobile dealership had offered
$1,000 to the team who hit the frog on the target sign. One team, Poor &
Hungry, struck the target after bouncing a pumpkin off the ground, but the
Q36 team won the money by striking the frog directly in its open mouth.
As the competition waged, other bands took the stage, while at the end of
the vendor's midway, carnival rides were in operation and helicopter rides
were being sold. Later in the night, music and campfire smoke filled the
air of the camping areas as darkness took over.
On Sunday, attendance rose to approximately 14,000. Competition for distance chunkin started, with each team having three attempts to out distance the others. First the youth teams took the field. The Calculatin' Catapultin' Cubs of Pack 944, Ellicott City, Maryland, took first place in the Ten and Under Youth Class, throwing their pumpkin 118 feet. Using their nitrogen powered cannon, DelCastle Technical High School placed first in the 11 to 17-year-old Youth Class with a shot of 759 feet. Under the Human Powered machine, Gene's Machine took top honors and a $500 prize with a pumpkin throw of 576 feet. In the Unlimited Class, Loaded Boing stood unchallenged and claimed the $1,000 first prize with a toss of 493 feet. The Centrifugal and Pneumatic teams both competed together. In the Centrifugal Class, Bad-To-The-Bone won the $1,000 first prize with a throw of 1,675 feet. With the sun sinking into the West, it was down to the last throw for the pneumatic cannons. Against headwinds, Mello Yello shot its pumpkin 2,629 feet, while Old Glory followed close with a 2,269 feet shot. By the time the other four teams shot, it was too dark to determine where the pumpkins landed, let alone how far they shot. The final announcement would have to wait until Monday morning for the official results.
By the time we arrived back to Eagle Crest on Monday, others had begun
to arrive. Everyone had the same questions, did they find the pumpkins,
who won, how far did they toss? When the official word came, it confirmed
what most of the people thought when they left on Sunday. The Aludium Q36
Pumpkin Modulator had successfully shot its pumpkin 2,710 feet, 55 feet
past the record distance, taking first place for $1,000 and setting a new
world's record. Not only did the Q36 team from Morton, Illinois win the
first prize money, they also received the seven feet tall World Championship
Trophy and a smaller 1996 World Championship Trophy. Team Captain Charley
Heerde received the official Punkin' Chunkin' Gold and Diamond Championship
ring.
With the 1996 Punkin Chunkin Championship over, "Captain Speed" Lackhove, Chunkers newly elected 1997 president, indicated it was time to get back to some fishin'. He closed by saying "then we're goin' out to Illinois and show them we're ready to take the trophy home!" The Morton Festival is reportedly scheduled for sometime in September 1997. The World Championship Punkin Chunkin will remain in Delaware the first weekend in November. Any newcomers interested in competing in the 1997 World Championship can call 1(800)515-9095 for more information.
1996 World Champion Punkin Chunkin
Final Results
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