GROW's Pumpkin 'Guess-A-Roo' Contest Returns
Oct 04, 2022 08:47AM ● By Jeanne Fratello
Can you guess the weight of this giant pumpkin at GROW?
GROW's popular annual contest to guess the weight of its giant pumpkin has returned. The Pumpkin Guess-A-Roo Contest, now in its 17th year, has sparked countless funny guesses and stories.
The
bright orange behemoth sits just inside the front window at GROW. Check
it out (no lifting allowed!), write down your guess and your contact
information on a piece of paper, and submit it.
The person whose guess is closest to the actual weight will have the pumpkin delivered to their home. The deadline for making a guess (and the delivery date) is Friday, October 28.
Each year GROW receives 350 to 400 guesses during the Guess-a-Roo, said GROW owner Barry Fisher.
Nevertheless, the weight of the pumpkin (which was grown in Stockton, CA) remains a closely guarded secret. According to Fisher, only three people currently know the correct weight of the pumpkin.
Contest Sparks Years' Worth of Fun
The contest is always entertaining, and both Barry and his wife, co-owner Kathy Fisher, have loved
seeing little kids come in and make outlandish guesses through the years ("4,000
pounds?").
Fisher said he has overheard kids trying to puzzle it out with such thoughts as
“It’s like a mommy weight, not a kid weight," and “I think it weighs as
much as that table next to
it."
"The
best was a little boy who measured the height of the pumpkin putting
one fist on top of the other until he had the number of 'fists' high:
32," said Fisher. "He then said, 'My fist weights 1 pound, so the pumpkin weighs 32 pounds.'
I wanted to load it into his car that second."
The contest has also been a learning experience. In the early years of the contest, the pumpkin would sit in GROW's sunny front window. One year, on the delivery date, the team picked up the pumpkin to deliver it...only to watch the bottom drop out. The pumpkin had rotted through.
That was a huge bummer for the GROW crew, who then had to go out and buy another giant pumpkin. "Try to find a giant pumpkin two days before Halloween," Fisher added wryly.
From that year on, the staff always makes sure to keep the pumpkin in a shaded spot.
GROW is located at 1830 N. Sepulveda in Manhattan Beach.
