AI-Summary – News For Tomorrow
In 1990, Sid Peterson’s 210-pound pumpkin won Nanaimo’s Jensen Florist and Garden Centre competition, edging out his wife’s 196-pound entry and David Pratt’s 172-pounder. Ryan Pratt’s pumpkin was the smallest, weighing just 91 grams. This local contest occurred against the backdrop of increasingly massive pumpkins globally. In 2025, two brothers in the United Kingdom broke the world record with a 2,819-pound pumpkin, surpassing the previous 2023 U.S. record of 2,749 pounds. The article highlights the contrast between local pumpkin-growing achievements and the escalating pursuit of giant pumpkins on a global scale.
News summary provided by Gemini AI.
Headline History: Nanaimo grew great pumpkins
Published 1:25 pm Friday, November 7, 2025
Thirty-five years ago a community member’s gigantic gourd made it into the news.
On Nov. 5, 1990, Sid Peterson won first place in Jensen Florist and Garden Centre’s local pumpkin competition with a 210-pound beast of a pumpkin. Sid’s great pumpkin was a little heavier than his wife Ruby Peterson’s 196-pound entry and David Pratt’s 172-pounder. The smallest entry came from Ryan Pratt, whose pumpkin weighed in at only 91 grams.
The record for the world’s largest pumpkin was taken earlier this year by two brothers in the United Kingdom, weighing at 2,819 pounds. The previous record, earned in the U.S. in 2023, was a 2,749-pounder.
