Monday, September 30, 2013

5th Annual Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival Results

Trebuchet line at #PumpkinChuckin via Stoweflake twitter
Thank you everyone for a great day of pumpkin chuckin' at Stoweflake. And thank you to all of our sponsors and supporters.

Here are the results, which will be updated later with the distances, etc.

2013 Results:

Lightweight Division
  1. Kinetic Pumpkins
  2. Tomato Crushers
  3. Dante's little Spark 
Middleweight Junior Division
  1. Dante's Flame
  2. Learning Together
  3. Born to Fly
Middleweight Open Division
  1. Angry Pumpkins
  2. Team Jordan
  3. QC1
Heavyweight Division
  1. Hammer of the Gourds
  2. Weapons of Medieval Destruction
  3. Dante's Inferno Grand Champion,
Best Design (threw farthest for their height): Angry Pumpkins (repeat winner from last year)

Chili Cook-off Competition:
  1. Deb Papineau (from Deb's Place in Morrisville, VT)
  2. Black Diamond BBQ
  3. Gringo's Revenge (Stowe Barber Shop)

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Pumpkin Chuckin' Eve

It's Pumpkin Chuckin' Eve, pumpkins prepare to meet your maker in the name of science and engineering...

TrebStar - Trebuchet Simulator
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Designing and building trebuchets is mad science?
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Slice of pumpkin pie anyone?

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

New Sponsor: Innsbruck Inn at Stowe

There are now only four days remaining until we celebrate our 5th Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival on Sunday, September 29th, at the Stoweflake Resort and Spa.

We just wanted to let everyone know that we are adding a great new sponsor and prize for this year's festival.

The Innsbruck Inn at Stowe will donate a prize package for 1 night’s lodging for 2 people in a superior room with 1 Queen & Double Bed, plus a Full Breakfast, and Afternoon Tea on the day of arrival.

The Innsbruck Inn is located at 4361 Mountain Road Stowe, Vermont, which is just a little over 2 miles up Mountain Road from our competition site at Stoweflake.

Innsbruck Inn at Stowe

Innsbruck Inn at Stowe

The Innsbruck Inn at Stowe combines the atmosphere and style of a traditional Austrian alpine inn, with the spacious accommodations and modern amenities of a quality mountain resort. It offers a classic alpine experience in Vermont! Call for reservations at 800-225-8582.

So, this is another great prize for our trebuchet competitors to go after. Good luck to all of you.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Update

The count down is beginning, there are now only 10 days remaining until the 5th Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival (VTPC) on Sunday, September 29th, at the Stoweflake Resort, Stowe, Vt.

Food Drive at VTPC with Raffle Prizes

Here is one very important update to pass along. This year there will be a food drive at the festival.

Regina Crosby, the owner of the Stowe Barber Shop, is organizing a food drive raffle at the festival this year. Here is how it will work:
Anyone bringing a non-perishable food item (or contributing $1) gets a raffle ticket. Regina is offering a prize of free haircuts for one year at the Stowe Barber Shop, as well as other prizes including: night at the Stoweflake for two (2). She will raffle off prizes during the event.
A night for two at the Stoweflake Resort and Spa or free haircuts for a year are some awesome prizes. So if you have some non-perishable/canned goods sitting around please bring them to the festival and get a chance at winning some great prizes.

Stoweflake Resort and Spa --

Stoweflake Resort & Spa


Stoweflake Resort & Spa

Facebook:
Regina Crosby / Stowe Barber Shop --

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Also, festival organizer Dave Jordan was on WCAX TV yesterday, Sept 17th, to talk about our pumpkin chuckin' event. Here is the video clip of Dave's appearance:

Here is the link to the full WCAX story:
Catapult pumpkins, Pumpkin Chuckin' contest begins

Monday, September 9, 2013

Here Comes the 5th Annual VT Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

5th Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival Set to Launch at the Stoweflake Resort and Spa on Sunday, September 29th, 2013

Stowe, Vermont, Sept 6, 2013 – It is again time to get your pumpkin chuckin' trebuchet ready for the 5th Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' (VTPC) Festival on Sunday, September 29th, 2013 at the Stoweflake Resort and Spa in Stowe, Vermont. The VTPC Festival is a fun, family event sponsored by the Stoweflake Resort and Spa and other local sponsors.  The goal is to give kids and adults a fun chance to build something with their hands and compete.

The Festival runs from 11am to 4pm, featuring three rounds of competitive pumpkin chuckin' at 12:30pm, 1:30pm and 2:30pm, with awards shortly after the last round. Dogs and outside food or beverage are not allowed at the event. Admission to the Festival will cost $5 for ages 5 and over, free for 4 and under.  Parking is free. Food, beer and wine will be available for sale by the Stoweflake. 

The Festival is a one-day event where Do-It-Yourself mechanical wizards of all ages attempt to launch pumpkins as far as possible with trebuchets, which are medieval siege engines. The event has grown in size every year. The Science Channel's broadcast of the World Championship Punkin Chunkin on Thanksgiving Day has helped fuel the growth of the sport of pumpkin chucking. Last year eighteen teams from New York and around New England competed at the VTPC Festival.

Along with the pumpkin chuckin’ contest comes music, children’s activities, a bounce house, chili cook-off, mini-olympics, and great food; all creating an enjoyable fall day with proceeds benefiting the Lamoille Family Center.  The Family Center has a thirty-seven year history of supporting Lamoille Valley families through early care and education services, home visiting, parent education, playgroups, child care resource and referral, youth services, and emergency assistance.

Music for this year's festival will again be provided by Vermont performers Mike Dunn and sister Julia, and the duo Jenn and John, who will be performing periodically from 11am to 4pm.

Dave Jordan, enthusiastic founder (and competitor) of the festival says: "This is a fun competition modeled after the Soap Box Derby. The height and weight of the machines are limited to make it fair for teams with limited resources. The team that throws a pumpkin the farthest for their height will win best design prize and receive first pick of the prizes".

The festival will have four categories of competition, which also compete against each other for the Best Overall Design, which is the farthest throw for the height of their trebuchet. The four categories are: Lightweight Division, Middleweight Junior Division, Middleweight Open Division, and Heavyweight Division. It costs $5 to enter the competition (or to spectate). For the exact competitive specifications, rules, and entry information please visit the festival's website (http://vtpumpkinchuckin.blogspot.com/) for details.

Exciting prizes for the competition winners have been donated by the festival sponsors. Prizes include:
Events added this year:

Chili Cook-off: Eight local celebrity judges representing local TV, newspapers, magazines and restaurants will assist in judging the different selections.  This will be a hybrid tournament where the celebrity judges get 10 votes; non-celebrity judges can also join the fun for $5 and get a sample and vote as well.  First prize gets $100, second get $50 and third gets $25.  To compete, bring 2 gallons of chili to the event. You receive free admission to the Festival, a chance to schmooze with the celebrities and a very good chance of winning prize money. To register, or for more information, email Neil Handwerger at cafeonmainstowe@gmail.com

Mini-Olympics:  This will be a 5 event Olympics for kids of all ages.  There will be running, jumping, chucking, one legged race, and a wheelbarrow race.  Two rounds will take place - 12:30 - 1:45pm and 2:00pm - 3:15pm.  A donation of $5 is suggested to enter all events.
Pumpkin carving/drawing contest:  Kids can carve a pumpkin or draw a pumpkin or even bring a pre-carved pumpkin to compete.  Please bring your own pumpkin.  Suggested donation $3.

Bouncy house:  Provided by Lamoille Family Center:  Free fun!

For more information about the 5th Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival, please visit the festival's website at http://vtpumpkinchuckin.blogspot.com/ or contact the festival organizer Dave Jordan, email: DJordan@GMAVT.net, telephone: (603) 630-4800