Steve has withstood the test of time. He has been a good ambassador for the hobby/sport of growing giant pumpkins. He has travelled widely to attend contests, meetings and patch tours across the country. He is one of the very best when it comes to growing these giants, but he is so much more. He gives freely of his time, is honest and loyal. His integrity is outstanding. All of these qualities make him an ideal candidate for induction into the Hall of Fame.
Steve has been growing and entering pumpkins in GPC events since the late 90?s. He is a former world record holder. In 2001 Steve?s 1016 set a new site record and was the first 1000 pounder weighed at Half Moon Bay. He repeated his 2001 Half Moon Bay victory in 2003 setting a new site record at 1,180 pounds. Currently he holds the Oregon State record and the site records for all three of the PGVG/GPC weigh-off sites. In 2014 Steve lost 3 pumpkins weighing over 1800 pounds. He still managed to set a new site record at the Terminator. He won 2 of the 3 local PGVG/ GPC events with entries of 1719.5, 1689 &1630 for a combined weight of 5038.5 pounds – not bad for the bottom of his order. Steve took a couple of summers off (2009 & 2013) to spend with his family and still managed the following accomplishments.
Place Weight Contest Year
1st 1719.5 Terminator 2014 (Current site record)
1st 1630 Canyonville 2014
1st 1778.5 Bauman’s Farm 2012 (Current site record)
1st 1676.5 Canyonville 2012 (Current site record)
1st 1531.5 Terminator 2012
1st 1476.5 Canyonville 2011
1st 1431.5 Terminator 2011
1st 1360 Bauman’s Farm 2010
1st 1364.5 Bauman’s Farm 2008
1st 1408.5 Bauman’s Farm 2007
1st 1180 Half Moon Bay 2003 (Not GPC in 2003)
1st 1016 Half Moon Bay 2001 (Not GPC in 2001)
The Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers (PGVG) club was formed in 2001. Being a new club GPC membership was not granted until 2007. Thus he has no GPC entries from 2002-2006. That did not stop Steve – he continued to win many local events. In 2003 he grew a new world record pumpkin weighing 1385 pounds. The Indiana Pumpkin Growers Association Home of THE All Time Top Ten Pumpkin list! has five of Steve’s pumpkins in the top ten places. Actually those five pumpkins are in the top six slots for Oregon.
Over the years Steve has lost many very large pumpkins; several over 1800 pounds. A few of those may have been judged as sound entries by the event judges but not by Steve’s standards. If his pumpkin has a questionable flaw he will leave it home. When asked why, he has said that our sponsors expect and deserve good pumpkins that will hold up for the duration of their events. He has always brought his largest and best to the local events passing up the big money contests just a few hours away. His loyalty to the sponsors, site owners and the club has had a very positive impact for all of us who enjoy growing these giants. I have never seen a Daletas pumpkin disqualified at a contest.
Steve was one of the five founding members of the PGVG. Since the formation of the PGVG he has been an active member in the club taking on many roles. In 2001 Steve volunteered to chair the club seed program and continues to do so today. He has held the office of member at large, Weigh-off coordinator, Site Coordinator, Seed chairman, Auction chairman, Promo Packs chairman and club seed membership packages chairman. Not only does he chair the functions he performs a majority of the work.
He is very generous with his time and seeds. He donates for all club auctions and seed programs. He mentors new growers and helps produce grower seminars. He has written several articles for the club newsletter, given live and taped interviews.
Steve has given informative talks at both the national and local levels. In 2004 at the Niagara Falls growers convention Steve was awarded the Orange Jacket; followed by an informative talk on how he did it. In 2012 he gave a very good power point presentation at the GPC grower’s convention in Las Vegas. In 2013 he gave talks at the Pacific Northwest Giant Pumpkin Growers (PNWGPG) spring meeting and the PGVG spring meeting. He has been a member of the “Ask the grower panel” (open forum) many times dating back to at least 2001.
