Spalding is About to go Absolutely Pumpkin-Mad
On Sunday, March 29, Spalding will host its inaugural Giant Pumpkin & Sunflower Competition — and if you thought fundraising in country SA meant a lamington drive or meat tray at the pub… think again.
This is a full-blown, grow-your-own, wheel-it-in-on-a-ute kind of event, where locals (and some interstate hopefuls) will roll into Centenary Park with their biggest pumpkins, tallest sunflowers and whatever weird and wonderful produce they’ve been quietly nurturing in the back paddock.
There’ll be a public weigh-in, kids’ activities, face painting, fairy floss, popcorn, a bubble machine, pulled pork rolls, steak sangas — and Regional South Australia’s largest ball pit and soft play set-up for the little tackers.
You won’t miss it. There’ll be an army truck parked in the town centre… with a pumpkin on the back.
Show Us What You’ve Got
Competition categories include Atlantic Giant pumpkins (the non-edible monsters), Big Max pumpkins, and the creatively chaotic Pumpkin Dress-Up section. Pop a simple smiley face on your pumpkin or turn it into a full-blown costume creation.
On the sunflower front, Giant Russian and Sunbird varieties will go head-to-head for tallest stem and broadest bloom. Splashes of yellow are already popping up around town (including a patch of around 350 sunflowers on the way out of Spalding).
Taralee Orchards’ Renae Kretschmer will be among the judges on the day, alongside Port Pirie Regional Council Mayor Leon Stephens.
Community sustainability advocate and kids’ education enthusiast Paulie Calaby will also be on hand to share her passion for environmental awareness and community connection.
Best of all, proceeds from the event will support War Memorial projects through the Spalding War Memorial Committee, helping to preserve and maintain the town’s memorial sites.
Meet Nick Bruce — Chief Pumpkineer
Like most good country ideas, this one didn’t start in a boardroom — and Spalding local Nick Bruce will be the first to admit the idea wasn’t entirely original.
“I flogged it from a competition that’s been running at Cadel for about 20 years,” he laughs.
It started as a friendly comp between mates. They chucked a few pumpkin seeds in the ground to see who could grow the biggest one. Nick’s was a flop, but his brother Dylan produced a monster that required a wheelbarrow to move.
They took it down to the bowling club for show and tell and a “guess the weight” session. Dylan had grown a 45kg monster — and they were hooked.
With encouragement from his boss, Spalding local Kevin Fitzgerald — who instilled in him the importance of honouring Australia’s war history — Nick’s now gone pumpkin and sunflower mad to help preserve the town’s War Memorial.
And he’s come a long way in a short time.
“Last year I accidentally gave Kevin a sunflower seed instead of a pumpkin seed, and he ended up with something his wife called a ‘Sunkin’,” he laughed.
A Giant Pumpkin Sculpture and Pumpkin Soap Putting Spalding on the Map
Nick’s roped in the whole family too. Together they’ve built a giant pumpkin sculpture, which he proudly carts around the countryside on the back of his ute.
They’ve sold tonnes of sunflower and pumpkin seeds — with about 30 per cent posted interstate — and wait for it… Nick’s even been making and selling pumpkin and sunflower soaps.
Yep. Soap.
His mother-in-law, Kerry Twyford, is a soap maker who’s taught him everything he knows, while his own mum has been busy producing pumpkin and sunflower fridge magnets using a wood laser cutter.
The quirky merch has already helped raise more than $4,000, which the Spalding War Memorial Committee plans to put towards a mural tribute in the town’s Main Street. Money raised from the competition will also go towards upgrades to the town’s WWI Memorial Grandstand.
Nick and the Committee are looking forward to the family-friendly comp, encouraging people to travel far and wide with their prized pumpkins and sunflowers.
“Even if your sunflower’s three metres tall — you’ve gotta bring it. Or if you’ve got something else that’s quirky or worth a look, bring it along.”
Member for Frome/Ngadjuri Penny Pratt is reportedly entering… with homegrown cucumbers.
Giant Pumpkin & Sunflower Competition
WHEN: Saturday March 29
WHERE: Spalding Town Centre
REGISTER your award-winning produce here
For more events happening across regional SA click here.
