Pumpkin-growing Santa Rosa dad calls World Championship Weigh-Off a day of ‘total drama and excitement.’ Here’s how he did

A Santa Rosa man vying for the top prize Monday at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay came up just short, capturing second place and a $3,000 prize.

In what Brandon Dawson described as a day of “total drama and excitement,” the pumpkin he grew in the backyard of his Rincon Valley home tipped the scales at 2,465 pounds.

The winning pumpkin, grown by current world record holder Travis Gienger from Minnesota, weighed 2,471 pounds, a mere six pounds more.

It netted Gienger $22,239 in prize money — a total of $9 per pound, according to Weigh-Off officials.

Despite this, Dawson isn’t terribly disappointed with the second place finish for his giant pumpkin, which he named Seymour.

“I’m so excited to be able to say I grew a 2,400-plus-pound pumpkin,” he said in a phone call from the celebratory lunch that was held for the growers after the weigh-off. “It’s the second biggest ever grown in California and the biggest grown in California this year,” he added.

Dawson, 41, will receive an additional $1,000 for having grown the biggest pumpkin in the state this year.

He also achieved his goal of earning a grower’s jacket, an esteemed award for growing a pumpkin larger than 2,200 pounds, as established by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, the organization that sanctions weigh-off events like the prestigious one in Half Moon Bay.

In another nail-biting moment at the competition, Napa resident and longtime pumpkin weigh-off competitor Leonardo Urena took third place with a gourd that weighed 2,390 pounds, narrowly edging out at 2,387-pound pumpkin from Oregon.

Dawson said competing with legendary growers like Urena and the other top four finishers was a great experience.

“I’m this new guy, growing just four years and hanging out with the best of the best who’ve been growing for years and years and years,” he said.

Seymour the pumpkin won’t be making the return trip home to Santa Rosa with Dawson, though. It will stay behind and be displayed at next weekend’s Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival.

Afterward, Dawson will harvest Seymour’s seeds, some of which will be auctioned off as a fundraiser for the California Pumpkin Growers Club. Dawson will also sell some of the seeds. But he plans on keeping a few to see if he can repeat this year’s success.

“I’ll go for beating my personal best and try to win Half Moon Bay some day,” he said. “That would be a dream come true.“

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Graue at 707-521-5262 or jennifer.graue@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JenInOz.