The Longford and District Pumpkin Club
The Longford and District Pumpkin Club was established in 2003; now you may think that a Pumpkin Club is a funny thing to establish. Why would anyone want to grow pumpkins? Why would anyone want to join a club to grow pumpkins? The answer is simple, to have some fun and to raise money each year for a good cause. So far the club has raised monies for the NSPCC Full Stop Campaign, Alzheimer’s Society and The MacMillan Nightingale Unit (Derby). This coming year the selected charity is Guide Dogs for the Blind
Every year there has been an annual Longford and District Pumpkin Club Show which is the highlight of the pumpkin growing year. The categories include Best in Show, Best Girth, Best Texture, Best Colour and a range of other classes. Membership is open to anyone and for the membership fee pumpkin seed is provided. In the evening after the show there is the annual Pumpkin Gala Dinner which is held by tradition at Boylestone Village Hall.
The Longford and District Pumpkin Club has a full compliment of officers:
Growers’ Gaffer Mick Tunnicliffe
Shadow Gaffer Paul Whitehead
Gopher to the Growers’ Gaffer Jon Spencer
Keeper of the Fettle Muslin Barry Burdett
District Girth Assessor Dave Hales
Texture Geezer Jeremy Dunn
Pumpkin Resource Altitude Technician Tony Buckley
Judge in Chief Martin Grundy
The Longford and District Pumpkin Club hosts a number of events other than the annual show, over the years there has been a Barn Dance, A Family Fettling Folk Festival and an event not to be missed is the yearly Sporty Pumpkin Bike Ride which takes place on the second Thursday of July.
