For the second year in a row, Jason Terry of Oneida took top honors at the 25th Annual Allardt Great Pumpkin Festival on Saturday, October 1, 2016, with a giant weighing 1,472 pounds, but came up less than 2 pounds short of his Allardt weigh-off record a year earlier at 1,473.5 lbs. 9 (Jason Terry previously in 2015 entered a Tennessee state record pumpkin in a weigh-off in Alabama. That pumpkin weighted 1,577 pounds.)

Taking second place was another giant, weighed in by Dwight and Karen Stone of Prestonberg, KY, which tipped the scales at 1,421.5 lbs.

The weather this year evidently played a part in the lack of large specimens entered, with only five entries, and for the first time in the weighoff’s history, there were no entries from Fentress County.

Malissa Bess of Smithville, TN took third place with an entry of 543.5 lbs, while John VanHook of Somerset, KY placed fourth with an entry weighing 490 pounds. VanHook’s pumpkin also took the honor of “Best Looking Pumpkin,” for which he was awarded the Howard Dill Award.

Placing fifth with an entry of 465.5 lbs. was Suzie Zuerner of Arden, NC.

Suzie also entered a Cushaw which weighed 36.5 pounds.

In addition to the large pumpkins, there were also some giants entered in the Watermelon contest, with Chris Kent of Sevierville taking top honors with an entry of 290 lbs. which was 4 pounds shy of the Allardt Pumpkin Festival record of 294 lbs. which he weighed in last year.  Taking second place in the Watermelon contest was Bruce Terry of Helenwood, TN, with an entry of 250 lbs, with Jeremy Terry, also of Helenwood, taking third place with a 232-lb. entry.  John Bramer of New Hope, KY placed fourth with an entry of 229.5 lbs., while John Brooks of Rhonda, NC placed fifth with a 162.5-lb entry.