Punkin' Chunkers Get Ready to Aim and Fire
Photo courtesy of Delaware Public Archives, Dover, Delaware
By the mid-1980s, Joseph Frederick & Sons had grown from a one-man, one-truck company into a multi-million dollar business employing 100 people and more than 50 vehicles.
For more than 20 years, Delawareans have been hurling pumpkins skyward at the World Champion Punkin Chunkin in Milford, Del. The event which started off in 1986 as a few guys casually throwing pumpkins attracted more than 20,000 people, 72 participating teams, and $100,000 in admission and other revenues in 2006. Most of the money goes to community organizations.
The 2006 top chunker, "Second Amendment," sent its pumpkin 3,870 feet. The event started on a lark back in 1986, after four friends heard about a group in Salisbury, Md., throwing pumpkins. John Ellsworth, one of the four "founding fathers," told the Cape Gazette in November 2006 that he and his friends started this event as a challenge:
"One of us said that he could throw further than someone else, and I threw my hat on the ground," Ellsworth said. "Trey (Melson) and Bill (Thompson) both stomped on my hat and that kind of threw the gauntlet down. I can't remember who won that first year."
"Yes you can," Melson said.
"Oh yeah," Ellsworth admitted. "You whupped up on everybody."
The World Champion Punkin' Chunkin' is held every year in a field in Millsboro, Del., at the intersection of routes 305 and 306.
Click for more information about the Punkin' Chunkin' or call (302) 684-1986.