Winners of the 2007 Girard Pumpkin Chucking were

2010 Girard Punkin Chuckin' Contest Will be held on Sat. Oct. 9th, 2010 Proceeds to benefit the Girard Community Center	Master of Chuckin' Event Master Chucker, Mike Cowden President, Girard Chamber of Commerce
2009 Punkin Chuckin' contest winners Longest Throw by Air Cannon was awarded to Q-9 Do the Math of Morton, IL. Having the Most Fun award went to Bruce's Welding of Girard. Most Accurate award went to the Girard Firemen's entry of the Pumpkinator. Longest Throw by Mechanical award - Acme Catapult of Tremont, IL Drove Longest Distance to Compete was awarded to Mr. Nice Guy from Jackson, MO Tabitha Sons won the People's Choice Award for her entry.
2009 Punkin chuckin rules & regs.pdf
Pictures from the 2009 Punkin' Chuckin' contest Thursday, October 8th, 2009 - The Girard Pumpkin Festival makes the http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-6434-great-gourds.html
Sunday, September 20th, 2009 Rain did not deter volunteers from picking over 500 pumpkins on Sunday, September 20th, 2009. Mike Cowden and Wally Horrighs will donate approximately 400 pumpkins to the pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and 1st grade school children at both Girard & Virden. Pumpkins will also be donated to this year's Girard Pumpkin Festival on Saturday, October 10th, 2009. Pumpkins are available for purchase at Cowden's Auto Body, Inc. at 1008 W. Center St, Girard. Pumpkin Pickers from left to right are: Don Burgess, Michael Traughber, Tabitha Sons, Mike & Jeanette Cowden, Marissa Jones, and Wally Horrighs. Not pictured are Rhonda Horrighs and Deana Roller.
Monday, 8/31/2009 A meeting of the Pumpkin Festival volunteers convened at 7pm on August 31st, 2009. Those in attendance were Mike & Jeanette Cowden, Tony Paquette, Bill and Bob Deck, Pam Hawkins, Ralph Olquin, Don Burgess, Michael Traughber and Tabitha Sons. Mike Cowden informed the group that Lewis & Clark Community College Mobile Health Unit will be attending this year's Pumpkin Festival on Saturday, October 10th. The Mobile Health Unit will be open for tours and offering free blood pressure checks. Mike also said he would be contacting all the pumpkin chunckers from Morton, IL inviting them to attend our Pumpkin Chunkin event. The Girard Chamber's website, www.girardilusa.com, has a link to the Morton, IL Pumpkin Chunkin event. Pam Hawkins gave Mr. Cowden a check in the amount of $200 which was donated to the Pumpkin Festival by R&R Bindery. Any other person or business wishing to donate goods, services or money can contact Mike Cowden at 627-2199 or Deb Burnett at 627-3441. Bill and Bob Deck have challenged all businesses on the square to a Scarecrow Decorating Contest. Scarecrows are to be decorated and displayed outside of each business during the Pumpkin Festival. The next meeting of the Pumpkin Festival volunteers will be Tuesday, September 15th at 7pm at City Hall. Volunteers are needed! Everyone is invited to attend and participate.
8/17/2009 The Pumpkin Festival Committee met on Monday, August 17th to finalize this year's festival agenda. Those in attendance were Nancy Lange, Linda & Doyle Worlow, Bob Deck, Bill Deck, Don Burgess, Paige Wheeler, Ralph Olquin, Deb Burnett, and Mike & Jeanette Cowden. Discussions centered around the timing of the day's events for the 4th Annual Pumpkin Festival to be held on Saturday October 10th. The preliminary schedule includes a Car, Truck & Tractor Show, Craft and Food Vendors, Hayrack Rides, Car Smash, Pony Rides, Kid's Activities & Games, Pet & Child Costume Contest, Kid's Pumpkin Carving & Painting Contest, Child Fingerprinting & Identification, Chili Contest, and the Pumpkin Chunkin Contest. The Pumpkin Festival grows each year and more volunteers are needed for all phases of the day's activities. To volunteer for any of the day's events or to reserve craft or booth space, contact Deb Burnett at 627-3441. All proceeds from the one day event go to the Community Center building fund. The next scheduled meeting of the Pumpkin Festival Committee is at 7 pm, Monday, August 31st, 2009 at the Girard Municipal Building. All are invited to attend.
7/7/2009 - Cowden/Horrighs Pumpkin Patch Update Work continues on the Cowden/Horrighs pumpkin patch. On Monday, June 29th, workers weeded two of the three pumpkin fields to prepare them for 90 bales of straw to be laid as a weed preventer. Local farmer Mike Neff generously donated 10 bales of straw for the fields. The recent rains have greatly aided the rapid growth of weeds as well as pumpkins. Mike Cowden & Wally Horrighs donate pumpkins to the Girard Pumpkin Festival & the "Punkin Chuckin" contest which will be held on Saturday, October 10th, 2009. They also deliver many pumpkins to the school children of Girard & Virden to be decorated and hope to increase the number of children to get a pumpkin.
The planting of the 2009 Cowden/Horrighs pumpkin crop has begun. On Friday, June 5th, Mike Cowden and Wally Horrighs began planting the first of the many pumpkin seeds for the 2009 season. This year's planting went much smoother from past years with the addition of the tractor and the "hill maker" attachment. The pumpkins grown by Mike and Wally are used at the Pumpkin Festival in the "Punkin Chuckin" contest which will be held Saturday, October 10th, 2009. Mike and Wally also deliver many pumpkins to the school children of Girard and Virden to be decorated.
The Winners of the 2008 Punkin Chuckin' contest were: LONGEST CHUCK Bruces Welding - 3185 ft. MOST ACCURATE Girard Fire and Rescue LONGEST CHUCK BY MECHANICAL Illinois State Physics Department - 1048 ft. TRAVELED THE GREATEST DISTANCE TO COMPETE Jon DeFriese, Fairbury IL - 135 miles HAD THE MOST FUN Cowden's Crushers, Cowden's AutoBody, Inc.