Versailles Lions members pleased with turn out
Biggest pumpkin ever weighed in at the 103rd Versailles Pumpkin Show
Mary Margaret Moorhead & Wanda English Burnett

Despite the slow economy and the rains on Friday night, the 103rsd Versailles Pumpkin Show will go down in history as a successful event. While the crowds were down especially on Friday night, when a big rainstorm and tornado warning was heard, faithful followers of Rick K and the Allnighters came out anyway.

It will be remembered as a record breaking year for the open class pumpkins with the biggest ever pumpkin weighing in at 899.5 pounds. The Allen County pumpkin was raised by Tom Beachy, son of Dave Beachy, whose pumpkin came in second in the open class at 732.5 pounds. The Beachy family is from Fort Wayne.

Third in this class was Justin Duncan from Yorkville with a pumpkin weighing 654.5 pounds. Jim Tinderdine's 538 pound pumpkin came in fourth place.

The previous record for pumpkin weight at the Versailles Pumpkin Show was 776 pounds.

In the Ripley County contest, Bill Hughes' pumpkin at 562.5 pounds, came in first. Clyde Allen's 486 pound pumpkin was second, and Jack Lohrum's 384.5 pound pumpkin came in third. Edna Allen's pumpkin weighing 366.5 pounds was fourth place winner.

Emceeing the pumpkin weighing was Bill Snyder. Clyle Allen was in charge of the weigh-in with George Halcomb, Rosel Horen, Tom Pavey, Ted Ahaus, Gene Hafft, and others helping with the big machinery used to move the pumpkins from the truck to the scales.

Other pumpkins entered in this year's contest included two raised by George McClanahan of Paris Crossing weighing 364 pounds and 218.5 pounds and one raised by the Wes Boyd family of west of Zenas that weighed 351.5 pounds.

A strong crowd turned out for the annual parade that was held Saturday morning. There were 123 entries, which is comparable to other years that are non-election years, with the following floats named winners:
A Touch of County Floral & Gifts took the best float title. They had the theme, "It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown, with a gigantic pumpkin, complete with Snoopy's dog house and the Red Baron flying high.

South Ripley FFA took first place in the Youth Organization Float category, with Jac-Cen-Del FFA named second. Tri Kappa had the best Organziation Float; Pipe Creek Baptist Church came in first for the Religious Organization Float, with West Fork Baptist Church taking second. Patterson's Farmstead & Nursery was first in the Agri-Business Float with The Pumpkin Patch taking second. Friendship Insurance was first in the Business Float category and Napoleon State Bank placed second. Carolyn Fisk took the Most Comical Turnout category.

Saturday afternoon following the weighing in of the big pumpkins there was a kids pedal tractor pull held. According to Ed Westmeyer, Versailles Lion member, this was one of the highlights of the Pumpkin Show and will continue to grow.

ROYALTY NAMED

The King and Queen of the 2005 Versailles Pumpkin Show are: Justin Dahline of South Dearborn and Bridgette Adams of South Ripley. Their court included: 2nd runners-up: Holly Bill and David Lockwood both from East Central and 1st runners-up: Amanda Hartman of Milan and Daniel King from Batesville.

On Thursday night, the Prince and Princess were crowned. The contest was emceed by Linda Chandler, of the Ripley Publishing Co., with the contestants interviewed by Wanda Burnett. The title of Prince went to Aaron Johnson of Milan and Tori Reuter from South Ripley, was crowned Princess. Their court included: 2nd runners-up: Zachary Barrett of South Ripley and Isabella Stange of Batesville; 1st runners-up: Austin Shreve of Sunman and Sydney Lecher of St. Louis Catholic School.
The evening continued with the winners of the 17th Annual Pumpkin Baking Contest being named. Barb Canada of Holton, was named the Best Baker and given a plaque and $200. (See Thursday's paper for pictures of winners in all categories).

The evening continued with great fun when Bill Snyder emceed the Pumpkin Pie Eating Contest, sponsored by Ripley Publishing Co. Seniors from area schools participated. The pies were donated by Crossroads Restaurant and the Dairy Queen gave Pumpkin Blizzards to each contestant. The winners were awarded $50.00 each from Ripley Publishing Co. The two who could officially eat the most pumpkin pie in one minute with their hands behind their backs were Jessica Wilson from South Ripley and Blake Billman from Jac-Cen-Del.

The Versailles Lions Club sponsors the pumpkin show each year with the proceeds being put back into the community. Last year they donated nearly $20,000 to a variety of causes that directly impacted local citizens.

Pumpkin Show entertainment sponsors at the platinum level ($1,000) include: Versailles Tyson Fund, Town of Versailles, Spencer-Tyson Pharmacy, Friendship State Bank, Ripley Publishing Company, Stutler's Service, MainSource Bank & Insurance.

Gold sponsors ($500) are: Wireless Dimensions-Cingular Wireless Authorized Agent, A Touch of Country, Holman Septic Tank Sales and Redy Mix, Ripley County Farm Bureau Insurance, Halcomb Home Center, Tom Tepe Autocenter, Mike Holman Excavating, Health Centered Chiropractic, and American Legion Post 173.