James Fisher

The News Journal

Organizers say new insurance policy makes going back to same farm possible

There was no Chunk in 2014 or 2015, following a lawsuit over an ATV crash

Punkin Chunkin, the renowned, rowdy festival that has teams competing to fling pumpkins the farthest, will return to western Sussex County Nov. 4 to Nov. 6 after a two-year absence, organizers announced Saturday.

The event, they said, will be held at the same farm it had taken place for years before a personal injury lawsuit filed in 2013 gave the landowner cold feet. The suit, filed by an ATV driver seriously injured in a rollover accident, was later dismissed.

Chunk organizers were compelled to look elsewhere for a site. Plans to hold the event on Dover International Speedway property fell through for 2014 and again for 2015.

Punkin Chunkin canceled for second year

Now, said World Championship Punkin Chunkin president Frank Payton, a more comprehensive insurance policy is in place to protect the landowner.

"There's still a lot more work that needs to be done, but they feel comfortable enough to give us the go-ahead," Payton said in an interview Saturday.

A Punkin Chunkin board member, Frank Shade, said he was elated by the turnaround.

"Millions of people watch it on Discovery Channel. And we sanction events all over the country," Shade said. "This is a pretty popular event, and that's why there was such a big push to work something out."

Payton said more than 100 teams of competitors, in divisions like air cannon, trebuchet and hand-powered, are still signed up to compete in Punkin Chunkin, which was first held on a Lewes-area farm in 1986.

To satisfy the insurer, Payton said, onlookers who come to the event for a day will no longer be allowed to bring alcohol with them through the gate. He said organizers expect to keep a camping option available, and to have vendors selling beer on-site.

"We're really working on cleaning up our image," Payton said. He also said members of the Punkin Chunkin board met with Gov. Jack Markell this week, discussing the possibility the 20,000-person event might be back. "He wanted to make sure it stays in Delaware," Payton said.

Dale Wheatley, the owner of the farm property in Bridgeville, said Saturday night: "I'm not going to confirm anything until the middle of next week. I've got some questions to get answered first."

When the event was in the wind, organizers openly considered locating it elsewhere, perhaps on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Payton said a committee of the board explored other sites, most closely in Worcester County, Maryland. and Dorchester County, Maryland. "Dorchester rolled out the red carpet for us," he said.

At the same time, he said, only perhaps 20 landowners in Delaware or eastern Maryland have lands big enough to safely host the event. In its longest-distance category, air cannon, the record distance stands at 4,694 feet, and teams openly pine to break the mile barrier.

Contact James Fisher at (302) 983-6772, on Twitter @JamesFisherTNJ or jfisher@delawareonline.com.