No, it’s not the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but it will sure look like it this Saturday at Moncion’s Your Independent Grocers in Hanmer. It’s the 1^st Annual Great Pumpkin Contest and over 10 pumpkins weighing in at close to 200 pounds will be on display beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 14. The eligible pumpkins were grown from Dill’s Atlantic Giant Pumpkin seeds from Nova Scotia by employees of INCO’s Stobie and Garson Mines.

Several employees from Stobie Complex and Garson Mine decided this past spring to do something which would involve families and promote safety at Halloween. Sinclair Fleck himself had grown a 200 pound pumpkin in the past and tossed out the idea of having a contest for children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren of employees of the INCO sections. From there Chuck Benedetti and Wayne Tonelli got on board and the idea blossomed into a summer long project.

Marcel Moncion thought it was a wonderful idea to promote safety and offered the use of his store as the site for the final judging and special safety slogan or drawing contest. Therefore, the entire community is invited to take a look at all of the submitted entries.  The children can even enter the drawing contest while they are there.

Moncion’s will be donating $2 per pound for the largest pumpkin to the charity of choice by the winner who will also receive a $150 voucher from Moncion’s. Second place prize consists of a $100 voucher and third place will receive a $50 voucher. The Stobie Complex will also be donating prizes to winners in various age groups.