Austin man takes second place in giant pumpkin weigh-off at Stillwater Harvest Festival

(ABC 6 News) – An Austin man took his giant gourd to the Stillwater Harvest Festival over the weekend in hopes of winning the giant pumpkin weigh-off and a $5,000 check.

Tanner Conway, grew a monster of a pumpkin and was aiming for it to tip the scales at over 2,000 pounds thinking it would be enough to win the weigh-off.

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However, it wasn’t meant to be. Conway’s giant pumpkin fell short of the weight he hoped, and claiming the top prize at the festival.

Nonetheless, Conway’s pumpkin tipped the scales at a whopping 1,989.5 pounds earning him second-place at the weigh-off. A pumpkin grower from Wisconsin won the contest with a 2,210 pound giant gourd.

Now that the end has come for the giant pumpkin, Conway says it is more about creating the magic for the next patch of pumpkin growers.

“I hope that I can inspire the next generation with it. If I can help some kids to grow some pumpkins, get into gardening,” he said. “I always tell people that really you have to have patience to grow these, you have to have a really good work ethic, and you also have to be able to understand that at the end of the day, anything can happen.”