Meet the Pump-King
This 2,560-pound pumpkin broke the record for America’s Biggest pumpkin at the Half Moon Bay Competition in California.
November 7, 2022
On October 10, 2022, the crowd roars as a pumpkin is weighed to see a new American record broken. This 2,560-pound pumpkin broke the record for America’s heaviest pumpkin at the Half Moon Bay Competition in California. Travis Gienger, the winner of the competition, was a horticultural teacher who had decided to plant a pumpkin seed. He carefully nurtured and cared for it for six months like a father. His reward for his hard work was $23,040.
The fun tradition of carving pumpkins began in Ireland and is a tradition for many people. Jack-o-lanterns have now become a symbol of Halloween. The Irish initially used turnips and beets as Jack-o-lanterns. Later, when immigrants came to the U.S., they found pumpkins to be bigger and softer. Since then, carving pumpkins has been a Halloween custom.
It was an 8th-grade custom at J.C. Booth to carve and blow up pumpkins. This was an engaging science lesson. 8th-grade teacher Dr. Lanman said, “It’s for kids to learn about reactions, one of which is combustion, things go boom, that’s why we do it. Plus it is a ton of fun.” This school year, carving and blowing up pumpkins will not take place. “A student got hurt last year, and I didn’t like the liability,” said Mrs. Troutman, the principal.
Since pumpkins are synonymous with Halloween, the staff at J.C. Booth had a pumpkin carving contest. Eleven pumpkins were displayed in the cafeteria, and students voted for the best-decorated one. Mrs. Angela Rush won with her beautifully detailed pumpkin with a witch’s hat, legs, and warts. She didn’t carve her pumpkin, but some students carved pumpkins at their homes and sent in pictures. “I knew it would win the family competition, we do it every year. My most favorite was the one I made this year,” 7th-grader Andrew Hammock said.
McKay Dutcher • Mar 2, 2023 at 1:55 pm
Meet the pumpkin king was a very interesting topic, it helped show me what patience can accomplish. I don’t think I have the patience as Travis Gienger. He had so much patience that he helped his pumpkin grow to a total of 2,560 pounds. I also don’t have the memory to keep this pumpkin healthy for a total of six months! I still can’t wrap my head around how he had the patience to do this. After reading this article it made me want to try being more patient.
Zoe Day • Mar 1, 2023 at 1:55 pm
Meet the Pump-King is a very interesting article to read and learn about, it’s crazy how heavy and big pumpkins can get. It shocked me how a pumpkin reached 2,560 pounds. The article really showed me that hard work can really pay off because Travis Gienger, the winner received an award of $23,040. Making big things takes lots of hard work and time, not only does it take awhile but you need to take care of it well in order for it to continue to grow. This record is crazy, and must have been hard to beat, congratulations to Travis Gienger for your hard work!
Taylor • Mar 1, 2023 at 11:25 am
Meet the Pump-King was an eye opener article. The authors Saket Sonone and Zayn Wadsariya did a great job expressing the Jc Booth Middle School halloween traditions and comparing them to similar ones. It’s crazy that people took many hours out of their day and months to grow a huge pumpkin. It would be a lot of work, but the money would be worth it. I will be sad next year when we don’t blow up pumpkins and carve them, however it might be best to not get another person hurt in the future. I would want to know how much patience it took to grow that big of a pumpkin!
Serenity Torres • Feb 8, 2023 at 8:50 am
The article, “Meet The Pump-King”, by Saket Sonone and Zayn Wadsariya informs readers about a competition called ” Americas’s heaviest pumpkin”. In this competition Travis Gienger won $23,040 for his 2,560 pound pumpkin. This opened my eyes about this competition and how people compete. I wish to congratulate Travis Gienger on his pumpkins win, and his hard work. I also wish everyone good luck for next year!
Nolan Ryfa • Nov 17, 2022 at 11:54 am
The article, Meet the Pump-King, by Saket Sonone and Zayn Wadasriya on Boothwarriortimes was a very interesting, yet also sad article.
I had been looking forward to blowing up pumpkins ever since my brother, who is now in 9th grade, told me about it. Now I feel quite despondent knowing I won’t be able to blow them up next year. While I don’t quite agree with Mrs. Troutman’s judgment, I do understand why she didn’t want any more liability. I’m sure if I were in the same situation as her I would do the same thing.
Hopefully, it will be back next year, or maybe a safer version of it. But either way, I won’t let it break my Halloween spirit!
Jax Harrington • Nov 15, 2022 at 12:09 pm
I love the Pump-King article, this was an interesting article in Warrior Newsy. The authors Saket, and Zayn are friends of mine I also love to carve pumpkins. It is very fun to do I didn’t do it this year though… After reading this article many times, and Mrs. Troutman’s quote about safety, I now have a better understanding of the reasons why I shouldn’t blow up pumpkins! Even though I never had I took good acknowledge of Ms. Troutman’s quote. I like making faces and decorating my pumpkins a lot better than blowing up things. This article was really good and the authors Saket and Zayn did wonderfully.
Ziva Kandera • Nov 14, 2022 at 2:11 pm
The article, Meet the Pump-King, was definitely a very interesting passage.
I’ve been pondering about this idea, and how these people are wasting a lot of resources, which is a negative thing to do, but they receive a huge sum of money if they win. Even though all this money sounds promising for a pumpkin, I don’t think it’s worth going through all this work.
This is because only one pumpkin wins, and everyone else who has tried to compete, would have wasted a lot of time and money by the end.
So even though I think this is a fun thing to do, especially if you know how to garden well, it should continue. Except, the idea of people putting a lot of hard work into this pumpkin just to nothing doesn’t really sit well with me.
Fatema Momin • Nov 14, 2022 at 11:53 am
The article, Meet the Pump-King, by Saket Sonone and Zayn Wadsariya on the article was mind altering. It says, “This was an engaging science lesson. 8th-grade teacher Dr. Lanman said. “It is for kids to learn reactions, one of which is combustion,things go boom, thats why we do it. Plus it is a ton of fun.” I agree that it iston a of fun, but i also agree on Mrs. Troutman that they wont do it anymore because a student got hurt last year. I agree on Mrs. Troutman’s idea to make carving pumpkins safe, and fun for students.
Mariana Basmajian • Nov 10, 2022 at 4:47 pm
The article “Meet the Pump-King,” by Saket Sonone and Zayn Wadsariya in the Booth Warrior Times was informative and mind-altering.
In my opinion, I can’t say that I completely agree with Mrs. Troutman’s actions to cancel the J.C. Booth tradition of carving and blowing up pumpkins. Like the eight grade teacher, Dr. Lanman said in the article, “It’s for kids to learn about reactions, one of which is combustion, things go boom, that’s why we do it. Plus it is a ton of fun.” This supports the main idea of the tradition, which is a fun, festive, and educational activity for students.
Though I also do have to agree with Mrs. Troutman’s idea of a completely safe, new, and festive tradition that ensures the safety of all students and teachers, along with it being an almost equally as fun tradition for everyone in our school. I remember that my sister had participated in this tradition of blowing up pumpkins, and it did and still does sound like a fun, great tradition to be a part of, but I can live with blowing up a carved pumpkin in my time at Booth.
Between carving and blowing up pumpkins and carving, decorating, and voting on pumpkins for a fun tradition to celebrate the fall season, these are both equally fun and festive traditions to carry on for the oncoming years at Booth Middle School, but if one of them, for example blowing up carved pumpkins, has a possibility of endangering or hurting anyone, I would also prefer to go with the safest idea. Besides, carving, decorating, and voting for pumpkins is a fun, creative substitute for blowing up pumpkins, and it is a really nice way to celebrate the fall season and Halloween with everyone’s safety ensured.
Isaac Dutcher • Nov 9, 2022 at 4:36 pm
Meet the Pump-King was a very interesting article. The authors, Saket Sonone and Zayn Wadsariya did a great job outlining this crazy record. I thought it was really interesting that someone took so much time out of their day for six months to make sure that their humongous pumpkin would stay healthy! I certainly don’t have that kind of patience. I wonder how long it took Travis to get the perfect pumpkin.
Vanessa • Nov 9, 2022 at 8:37 am
wow that’s an incredible pumpkin and an amazing sign that waiting instead of rushing can bring big success.
Keyaan Budhwani • Nov 8, 2022 at 10:04 pm
The article, Meet the Pump-King, by Saket Sonone and Zayn Wadsariya on the Boothwarriortimes.com was an eye-opener.
I’ve been thinking that planting this massive pumpkin was just a big waste of space and could have been used for planting and growing other crops. When I read the article, it made me stop to think about how difficult this challenge could have been.
I prejudged and didn’t realize that this was a very difficult challenge and had taken a very long time. In my opinion, Travis Gienger was very successful and in fact, even won the competition. I will say If I was him I would have just gaven up since I am very impatient. I am very curious, and would like to know where and what season did Travis Gienger plant this seed?
Saylor Ziegler • Nov 8, 2022 at 4:31 pm
I do not agree with students not being able to take part in the traditional 8th grade J.C. Booth custom to blow up and carve pumpkins. Just because a few students were acting up or messing around and got hurt should not affect the good students who did everything they were supposed to do. The faculty should’ve been paying closer attention because most 8th graders are mature and responsible enough to do this cool and fun experiment. Even though there could’ve been more students in the future that may have acted up, there should be a limit to where students could go. For example, if they have too many infractions or missing assignments, then they could not go. I think that we should still do it because there were actually people who were following instructions and having fun.
Molly Bennett • Nov 8, 2022 at 3:59 pm
Meet the Pump-King was an interesting article in the Warrior News recently.Like the authors, Saket and Zayn, I also love to carve pumpkins. It is such a fun tradition that this year I carved two. I was a little disappointed when I heard that we would not be exploding the pumpkins for science class this year. I feel as though we missed out on so many of our elementary school’s traditions due to the schools closing during our 5th grade year. Things were just feeling closer to normal with face to face traditions coming back. After reading this article and Mrs. Troutman’s quote about safety and liability, I now have a better understanding of the reasons we did not blow up the pumpkins this year. The pumpkin decorating display was a creative replacement instead.