Village of Roland, Manitoba

Reason for Building:

The Pumpkin was built to commemorate the Centennial of Roland in 1990. It was built in honour of the Pumpkin King, Edgar VanWyck, who raised pumpkins that rated his name and the town in the Guiness Book of Records. His largest pumpkin was 560 kg.

Additional Information:

The Toews bent 14 steel rods into rounded segments in the shape of a pumpkin. They bolted them together at the top and at the bottom with large steel plates. It was then covered with wire mesh and moved to the next town where a company made sailboats. Here it was covered with bright orange fibreglass, then brought back to the Toews farm where they attached a painted green stem made out of a household dryer vent. The pumpkin is hollow.

The pumpkin cost $7,287.14.

Information Source: R.M. of Roland, Vern Hiebert and Richard W. Donnan

Pictures Sources: DMY