What happened to Punkin Chunkin?

What happened? What drove Sussex County's largest and perhaps most iconic event away from its roots?

There appears to be plenty of finger-pointing. Some members of the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association say Sussex County officials did nothing to save the event, while Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson insists nothing could be further from the truth.

This week, Association President John Huber charged that Lawson “had no desire for Punkin Chunkin to stay in Sussex County.”

Lawson fired back that he and his staff did everything in their power to keep the event in the county where it started and will continue to look for ways to bring the event back.

Meanwhile, others in the association say it's time to stop placing blame and focus on the 2015 event.

Event started in Sussex nearly 30 years ago

For nearly 30 years, people have gathered in large Sussex fields to watch the improbable – pumpkins flying through the air.

What started out as a friendly competition among a group of Lewes friends grew into an internationally recognized event each fall, broadcast on TV and attended by as many as 50,000 to 70,000 people. It became a major tourist attraction and an economic boost to southern Delaware, and national TV exposure has helped put Sussex County on the map.

Recently, the unthinkable happened: The organizers of World Championship Punkin Chunkin moved the event north to Dover International Speedway and even changed the date.

Even more unimaginable: the 2014 event was postponed until 2015. Organizers were forced to cancel the event this year when they could not complete tasks as required to stage the event in its new location. To complicate matters, the new site is not large enough to stage all machines at one time.

The association had planned to change its schedule to adapt to the smaller parcel. Because of the distance they can shoot a pumpkin, the popular air cannon and large trebuchet machines would have competed prior to the traditional three-day Punkin Chunkin weekend. Those competitions – among the most popular for spectators – would have not been open to the public. Huber said air cannon teams would have had the option to fire at targets during the weekend activities.

While the move to Dover was announced in early summer, organizers had been threatening to move out of Sussex County for several months. A lawsuit involving a seriously injured volunteer spotter still hangs over the association. Because of the lawsuit and concerns over liability, the association left its seven-year location at the Wheatley farm near Bridgeville after the 2013 event.

Insurance costs, payments to Sussex County and the state for paramedic coverage, 911 dispatch coverage, state police and DelDOT manpower had become a concern for some officers within the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association, and in particular its president.

When he took over as head of the organization, Huber said he wanted to run the association more like a business. He also wanted to ensure that the association stayed true to its mission of providing donations to worthy organizations.

Huber: Left with zero options

In a statement to supporters issued this week, Huber wrote that the organization voted to go to the Dover International Speedway location because the facility could support the event. He also noted that some members of the organization claim the event could have stayed in Sussex County.

Huber said the organization did not want to move the annual event out of Sussex County. For one thing, he said, the cost and effort is huge. “The organization was left with zero options,” he said.

“A few members have responded saying they know we could have stayed in Sussex County because they know land existed for us. Todd Lawson made the same claim when we announced our move saying he knew land existed,” Huber said. “If Sussex County knew of land that fit our needs and failed to tell us about it, they had no desire for Punkin Chunkin to stay in Sussex County. Members make the same claim; if they knew of land that could support us they failed this membership by not exposing it for this board to explore.”

“We do not need Lawson to prove he gave us two dozen locations that work; we only need one,” Huber said. “No more smoke and mirrors – put this event back in Sussex County.”

“The county has demonstrated multiple times to lend assistance,” Lawson responded, adding there are limits to what the county can do. “The county doesn't own any property and we can't fix the liability issue,” Lawson said.

Lawson: Event is important to county

Lawson said county staff provided more than two dozen maps with possible sites to relocate the event in Sussex County. These sites were 700 to 1,000 acres with a one-mile open stretch to accommodate air cannons and other long-distance machines, he said.

Those maps were forwarded in early April to the association by Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown. Lawson  said the county would have brokered a meeting between the association and landowners of potential sites.

“No one came back to the county to ask us to schedule a meeting with any of the landowners. We never heard from them again,” Lawson said. “I did have several chunkers contact me about their concerns to save the event.”

“Leaving Sussex County was a great disappointment,” Lawson said. “The event was created here and grew here. It's a big shot in the arm for the economy of Sussex County. We love the event; we brag about it. We hope to see it return. I will do anything in my power to make that happen.”

Lawson said Punkin Chunkin has always been an important event to him. He grew up in Sussex County near chunkers, and for many years his family grew pumpkins for the event.

Huber sent out an email Oct. 15 stating he was not aware that Lawson and county staff had provided maps to Pettyjohn. “Handing us maps of Sussex County does not equal success. We looked at every location Pettyjohn gave me. Ninety percent of them were so far off consideration because they were 300-500 acres – not 1,000 acres – and the other 10 percent had houses on them or had major highways going through the middle of them. If Lawson thinks he gave us success and we simply walked away, he is not being honest,” Huber said.

“Throwing me under the bus is ludicrous,” Lawson said. “We tried to do everything we could to help save the event. We did the best we could. It's their event, not the county's.”

Time to stop finger pointing

Association Vice President Ricky Nietubicz said the group has been under a lot of pressure trying to stage the event this fall. “There are a lot of people who are disappointed,” he said. “I share in John's frustration, but his criticisms do not speak for the entire executive board and the entire membership.”

Nietubicz, who has entered his Hooter Shooter air cannon in the event since 1995, said the association did not properly communicate what it was looking for in a new Sussex location. “The event has reached the size where it's become very difficult to find a place,” he said. “We are victims of our own success. Folks did try to help us, but it turned out it wasn't what we needed. The time has come for no more finger-pointing.”

Huber and Nietubicz agree the Dover site is not ideal, and it's not 1,000 acres, which has been established as the size of field needed for the event. They also agree the site can be utilized with proper planning.

That doesn't mean other options will not be looked at. Nietubicz said the association needs to act quickly to clearly define what it needs to stage the event. “It may require two or more parcels. We need to establish criteria and ask for a five-year horizon. That way we can all be on the same sheet of music,” he said.

Nietubicz said in retrospect the association didn't realize how fortunate it had been over the history of the event to have farmers who were willing to donate their fields.

Pettyjohn has legislation ready

Pettyjohn did more than present maps to the association – he tried to get legislation passed to deal with the insurance liability issue. The bill would have placed a liability cap on awards for lawsuits involving nonprofit organizations such as World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association.

He said it was apparent that the Democratic leadership in the General Assembly would not support the bill. However, he is considering introducing the bill in January. “The loss of Punkin Chunkin has a huge economic impact on this area, and this bill will help organizations throughout the state,” he said.

Pettyjohn said since Dover International Speedway already stages events with some risk involved, the organization is more accepting of potential liability than a third- or fourth-generation farmer would be.

Costs also a concern

Lawson said the impression that the county looks as the event as a cash cow to make money is false. “The county is not making money. We are spending taxpayers' money, and I would think they expect reimbursement for services,” Lawson said.

Over recent years, Lawson said, the county only has been paid one time for its services, which include on-site paramedics and the county's mobile command 911 center with on-site dispatchers.

Lawson said emergency services provided by the county are critical to an event that generates numerous emergency calls every Punkin Chunkin weekend. “For those few days every November the largest 'town' in Sussex County was in a cornfield near Bridgeville,” Lawson said. “We don't think charging $12,000 to ensure public safety is too much to ask.”

Lawson also met with the association's board of directors in 2011 to explain the county's new special events ordinance, which was created to recoup the county's expenses for providing emergency services.

Lawson said the association board expressed concern about expenses. Lawson said Huber asked for an invoice in 2011 and the county sent the association an invoice for about $12,000. The bill was not paid; it was also not paid in 2012. The bill was paid in 2013.

“A bill for $12,000 is not the reason why the event left Sussex County,” Lawson said.

Lawson said the association has paid DelDOT and Delaware State Police for their services every year. “I'm offended that county staff is dismissed,” Lawson said.

At this point in time, the 2015 event is scheduled to take place Nov. 6-8 in Dover. If another location is secured, Huber said, staff at Dover International Speedway is prepared to help market the event.