Community members, pumpkin growers and Utah State University students gathered at the fourth annual Center Street Giant Pumpkin Festival, which offered a first-place prize of more than double the prize money of last year. This year, however, the winning pumpkin was disqualified.
A pumpkin weighing in at 2,258 pounds was transported from Rexburg, Idaho to Logan for the competition, but was disqualified by judges because of a new rule that was put in place this year by an international organization called the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, said Ed Dennis, one of the five judges at the weigh-off. The pumpkin had multiple large soft spots on the underside, indicating the pumpkin was rotting.
According to this year’s rulebook, entries with more than two soft spots and soft spots greater than three inches in any direction disqualifies a pumpkin…