A fitting number: State champion pumpkin tips scales at Alaska State Fair

PALMER, Alaska (KTUU) - It wasn’t a state record, but the 2023 champion of the Midnight Sun Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off tipped the scales at just the right number.

The annual weighing of Alaska’s biggest gourd reached 2,023.5 pounds Monday at the Alaska State Fair.

Dale Marshall grew the giant pumpkin, retaining his title as pumpkin-growing king for an unprecedented sixth straight year. The last time someone else won was North Pole grower Dave Iles in 2017.

Since his current run of success started in 2018, Marshall has made record-breaking a routine. He set the state record in three of the last six years, including last year’s behemoth 2,147-pound monster.

Marshall not only won the overall title again, he took second place as well on Monday, bringing a second pumpkin in that weighed in at 1,875.5 pounds.

Third place this year went to Keith Malone, whose gourd was weighed at 620.5 pounds.

This year was the 17th annual pumpkin weigh-off.

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