Unable to obtain insurance:
Among the world’s sundry offerings of strange sports, you’ve got frog-jumping, extreme ironing and zorbing, just to name a few. But none tickle our autumnal fancy quite as much as pumpkin chucking.
Known for rhyming purposes as “punkin chunkin,” the seasonal activity requires a good deal of ingenuity. “Chunkers,” as they’re known, must devise mechanical contraptions that will hurl a pumpkin for a distance. Now, these tools aren’t the slingshots of your childhood: they’re hulking apparatuses that hearken back to the catapults, trebuchets and cannons of medieval times.
The world’s most passionate chunkers have convened for nearly three decades at the annual World Championship Punkin Chunkin event in Delaware. Following an ATV accident that resulted in a lawsuit in 2013, the association that sponsors the competition has had trouble securing an insurer for the event, according to The News Journal.
“With a heavy heart,” World Championship Punkin Chunkin announced Thursday that gourds won’t be flying from Delaware fields.
“Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of our Board throughout an exhaustive, nation-wide search, we have been unable to locate a willing insurer to adequately protect our host venue, our organization, our fans and our spectators,” the statement reads. “We’re committed to the continuation of our sport and of our charitable work, and we are actively seeking alternatives as we move forward,” the statement also says.
This is the second year in a row that the event has been canceled. While it has long been held in Sussex County, Del., the farmer who played host to the event on his property broke off his relationship with the chunkers after a volunteer injured his spine while riding an ATV across the field to measure a fired pumpkin’s distance, The News Journal reports.
The volunteer filed a personal injury lawsuit against both the organizers and the farmer who owned the property. Though the lawsuit was settled out of court, the farmer said goodbye to the pumpkin-throwers for good last year.
State Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, a Republican from Georgetown, Del., told U.S. Today that he fears this may be the end of the competition in the state.
“It looks like we’re going to lose the event here in Delaware, and we’re never going to get it back,” said Pettyjohn, who has sponsored a bill this year that would cap damages at $1 million for personal injury lawsuits filed against non-profits sponsoring annual special events.
But his attempt to seal the chunker vote has been stuck in the Delaware Senate Executive Committee, where it has been difficult to get other legislators on board with breaking gourds.
The cancellation announcement marks a somber end for a tradition that began in 1986, sprung from the humble beginnings of a friendly competition between Sussex farmers and tinkerers, The News Journal reports.
It quickly grew into a true crowd-pleaser, with tens of thousands of spectators in attendance each year. They pledged their allegiance to chunker building teams with names like “Ultimate Warrior” and “2nd Amendment,” and arched their heads towards the sky to watch pumpkins soar before meeting a messy demise.
With reports of a pumpkin shortage this fall — and the ever-growing demand for all-things-pumpkin — the end of the event may be best for the gourd population’s future.
Even so, some fans are unquestionably miffed.
“I sure hope the one person who didn’t want to accept responsibility for his actions and all those greedy lawyers are proud of themselves!” Judy Malin Mangini wrote on Chunkin Punkin’s Facebook page. “This is what happens when you live in Law suit happy society!”
Another commenter, Bj Parker, was more pensive about his chunkin affinity: “I remember when it first started. Went out into a field and sat on a cooler and watched. It was a great event that outgrew itself. I hope they can get it back.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...pionship-punkin-chunkin-event-canceled-again/
Among the world’s sundry offerings of strange sports, you’ve got frog-jumping, extreme ironing and zorbing, just to name a few. But none tickle our autumnal fancy quite as much as pumpkin chucking.
Known for rhyming purposes as “punkin chunkin,” the seasonal activity requires a good deal of ingenuity. “Chunkers,” as they’re known, must devise mechanical contraptions that will hurl a pumpkin for a distance. Now, these tools aren’t the slingshots of your childhood: they’re hulking apparatuses that hearken back to the catapults, trebuchets and cannons of medieval times.
The world’s most passionate chunkers have convened for nearly three decades at the annual World Championship Punkin Chunkin event in Delaware. Following an ATV accident that resulted in a lawsuit in 2013, the association that sponsors the competition has had trouble securing an insurer for the event, according to The News Journal.
“With a heavy heart,” World Championship Punkin Chunkin announced Thursday that gourds won’t be flying from Delaware fields.
“Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of our Board throughout an exhaustive, nation-wide search, we have been unable to locate a willing insurer to adequately protect our host venue, our organization, our fans and our spectators,” the statement reads. “We’re committed to the continuation of our sport and of our charitable work, and we are actively seeking alternatives as we move forward,” the statement also says.
This is the second year in a row that the event has been canceled. While it has long been held in Sussex County, Del., the farmer who played host to the event on his property broke off his relationship with the chunkers after a volunteer injured his spine while riding an ATV across the field to measure a fired pumpkin’s distance, The News Journal reports.
The volunteer filed a personal injury lawsuit against both the organizers and the farmer who owned the property. Though the lawsuit was settled out of court, the farmer said goodbye to the pumpkin-throwers for good last year.
State Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, a Republican from Georgetown, Del., told U.S. Today that he fears this may be the end of the competition in the state.
“It looks like we’re going to lose the event here in Delaware, and we’re never going to get it back,” said Pettyjohn, who has sponsored a bill this year that would cap damages at $1 million for personal injury lawsuits filed against non-profits sponsoring annual special events.
But his attempt to seal the chunker vote has been stuck in the Delaware Senate Executive Committee, where it has been difficult to get other legislators on board with breaking gourds.
The cancellation announcement marks a somber end for a tradition that began in 1986, sprung from the humble beginnings of a friendly competition between Sussex farmers and tinkerers, The News Journal reports.
It quickly grew into a true crowd-pleaser, with tens of thousands of spectators in attendance each year. They pledged their allegiance to chunker building teams with names like “Ultimate Warrior” and “2nd Amendment,” and arched their heads towards the sky to watch pumpkins soar before meeting a messy demise.
With reports of a pumpkin shortage this fall — and the ever-growing demand for all-things-pumpkin — the end of the event may be best for the gourd population’s future.
Even so, some fans are unquestionably miffed.
“I sure hope the one person who didn’t want to accept responsibility for his actions and all those greedy lawyers are proud of themselves!” Judy Malin Mangini wrote on Chunkin Punkin’s Facebook page. “This is what happens when you live in Law suit happy society!”
Another commenter, Bj Parker, was more pensive about his chunkin affinity: “I remember when it first started. Went out into a field and sat on a cooler and watched. It was a great event that outgrew itself. I hope they can get it back.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...pionship-punkin-chunkin-event-canceled-again/
