It’s almost official.

Thursday, April 06, 2000

It’s almost official.

According to Dave Andree, Austin will be named a national weigh-in site for the 2000 Great Pumpkin Commonwealth Weigh-off in October.

Andree expects to receive confirmation in June that the city has been selected.

"We heard this week from the Pumpkin Commonwealth people that we will be named a national site in about six weeks," Andree said.

The only other national weigh-ins are located at Nekoosa, Wis., and Anamosa, Iowa.

Previously, Byron was a national weigh-in site until the local sponsors gave up their weigh-off competition and it was transferred to Austin.

Last October, the local weigh-off activities were held at Super Fresh Produce in Austin, where owners Jim and Merlene Stiles co-sponsored the activities.

Last Saturday, Andree and his wife Jan hosted a seminar on growing pumpkins and other garden vegetables for competition.

Thirty-one participants, mostly from Freeborn and Mower counties, registered for the workshop and 50 people were in attendance.

"We even had a couple from Colorado who were in town for a funeral and learned about the workshop and attended," Andree said. "They took some seeds with them and said they were going to plant them and bring back the biggest pumpkin they grow this summer."

Dave and Jan Andree are among the best-known pumpkin-growers in the area and were instrumental in getting the Byron weigh-off transferred to Austin last fall.

Recently, area pumpkin growers have organized into a group called Southern Minnesota Pumpkin Growers. Dave Andree was elected president, his son, Richard, treasurer, and his daughter-in-law, Margaret, secretary.

According to president Andree, the organization has raised $500 for the national weigh-in October and hope to get others involved in promoting the event. Because the weigh-in sites are so far apart in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, the event attracts growers from the region.

More than $14,000 in prize money awaits the winners in the 2000 national competition, which will be decided the first Saturday in October. That’s when the weigh-ins are held across the nation. The winners are declared after weigh-ins at local sites and then by conference call, a national champion is named.

The Austin competition will include tall corn, squash and watermelon, as well as pumpkin, but new this year are tomatoes and cantaloupes.

According to Andree, a national weigh-in, such as Austin will host, can bring in more than $100,000 to the local economy.

Anyone wanting more information may call Andree at (507) 567-2157.