Watermelon Weighoff Winners

On Saturday, August 31, the Old Washington Farmer’s Market and Historic Washington State Park in cooperation with the Hope-Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce hosted an official watermelon weigh-off site for the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth in Washington, Arkansas. The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth provides official venues for growers to weigh several varieties of fruit and vegetables, including watermelons, across the country. They then give prizes for the largest weighed item of its type in the world.

There were a total of eight entries for the weighoff with growers coming from Arkansas, Alabama, and Kansas. The winners were: 1st place – Charles Bentley of Grant Alabama with 272.3 pounds; 2nd place – Steven Jackson of Spruce Pine, Alabama with 243.4 pounds; and 3rd place – Tony Prochaska of Simpson, Kansas with 224.9 pounds. Prochaska’s watermelon achieved a new record for the state of Kansas in watermelon weight. The current world record for watermelon is held by Chris Kent of Sevierville, Tennessee at 350.5 pounds.

For more information and photos check out the Old Washington Farmer’s Market on Facebook. The market takes place every Saturday from May till Labor Day weekend from 8am to Noon providing a place for local produce to be sold. Washington, Arkansas is located on Hwy 278 West just eight miles north from Exit 30 at Hope on US Interstate 30.