Punkin Chunkin Sunken
I just posted this so I could claim that headline.
The marquee Delaware event since 1986 won’t be held this year.
The pumpkins will not be flying this year after logistical problems in moving the annual Punkin Chunkin event to Dover International Speedway.
Earlier this summer, World Championship Punkin Chunkin leaders announced a deal to move the event from its traditional home in Bridgeville to Dover. Organizers were forced to find a new home after the property it had been held on was unable to host it anymore.
Make that: Drunken Punkin Chunkin Sunken
Nice!
Ebola prep. LOL
As a native of Delaware, graduate of UD (BA ’96 Poli Sci) and lifelong resident, let me state unequivocally that I hope this “event” fades into oblivion. This is some hayseed, backwater bullshit and it is an embarrassment. It’s bad enough that on my drive down the beach to visit friends last weekend I had to speed through oceans of campers with Confederate flags flying. Thank godness for EZPass. I didn’t need to slow down at the toll plaza.
Why was it a confederate flag flying in Dover?
NASCAR was in Dover last weekend. Hence, the confederate flag.
Southerners love NASCAR because it has their two favorite races. Car and white.
That just cause me to laugh out loud, SussexAnon. Ha!
oh c’mon! This was Delaware’s ONE THING (other than that hick race in Dover) Not it seems Nascar has somehow managed to screw it up.
Is it a waste of perfectly good pumpkins? probably.
.. does it attract a dubious crowd? yup…
But from an engineering/nerd/weirdo perspective, It is a pretty cool event. Like battle-bots on a different scale. Hope it comes back next year.
BTW, DG…. a lot of the winning teams are comprised of Northern Delaware DuPont engineers… NOT “nascar fans”
Its not the engineering that’s the problem. Its the fans. The same could be said of roundy-round racing. Sure there is engineering, but that’s not why the fans are there.
If you haven’t been, its a redneck fest.
The Mythbusters televised version is more enjoyable to watch than actually being there.
I have been. It is partially a redneck fest. But there were quite a few techy types there as well.
Here’s the big problem. There are now a bunch of upset people with siege equipment and nothing to do with it.
Ben,
If they don’t know what to do with their gear, just send them over to Sheriff Jeff. He’ll deputize each and every one of them.
SussexAnon and Dorian Gray……
Lets get more intolerant and kick out the whole south from the Union. We’ll still go to their beaches but god forbid anyone who lives there actually be there while you’re there. If anything brings shame on Delaware it would be the most dangerous city in the country, Wilmington and last time I checked it’s up north.
LMAO!!!
Mediawatch.
If the weapons of mass gourd destruction can not siege Dover, they will and should be turned against the loser of a legitimate primary. I would point out that he has not kept his word to ” leave this God forsaken place “.
I certainly hope the legal problems of the Chunk do not kill it. It is good entertainment for those who enbibe, and good for the economy if nothing else.
Jibber Jab-
Get over yourself, you intellectually lazy piece of shit.
1. Delaware was a slave state, but it’s above (and/or to the right of) the Mason-Dixon line. Sussex County is NOT the South, even though some of its residents speak like they’re from southern MD or northern VA.
2. No one suggested kicking the whole South out of the Union. For your information, we fought a brutal, bloody war to KEEP the southern states IN the Union. We called this the Civil War. You might have read about it.
3. I’m not sure where you got the idea that Wilmington is “the most dangerous city in the country”. It doesn’t even make the top 14.
http://www.citiesjournal.com/the-14-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-usa/
Have fun f—–g your sister.
“But from an engineering/nerd/weirdo perspective, It is a pretty cool event. Like battle-bots on a different scale. ”
And has been noted in several graduate theses because of the engineering and physics that are significant considerations. Which is one reason why it’s a favorite on the Science Channel, including a Science Channel game.
The characterization that it’s a redneck fest is a mischaracterization. Are there rednecks there? Sure, but that characterization does not reflect the diversity of attendees and it sounds pretty close to elitism to identity it as such. Punkin Chunkin fits right into the STEM philosophy increasing the interest in those hard disciplines and has awarded over $70,000 in scholarships and charity to St. Jude for example.
Everything would have been fine this year if it wasn’t for some yahoo volunteer on his ATV as a spotter running around on a rutted farm field getting hurt and then deciding to go for the gold and sue because he wasn’t trained to ride an ATV or something and now wants his piece of the pie.
And no, I don’t usually go to PC. I watch on Discovery or Science, while sipping a Malbec or nice Cab. Regardless it’s a shame because it really is about math, science and engineering. Maybe that’s unintended consequence of people trying to figure out what to do with pumpkins but PC shows that mathematics, science and engineering can be fun.
Oh yeah, and women are competing as well and don’t we want women represented in the sciences?
Hey Lebay you uppity A******,
Feel free to check out this website which declares Wilmington the most dangerous. Sorry is we don’t all read the cities journal.
http://www.parenting.com/gallery/most-dangerous-cities-in-america-2012
People in Sussex speak like they’re from Southern Maryland??? OMG Well here’s a map. https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9289726,-76.6995284,8z You may have seen one in your $40,000 a year private kindergarten classes. Delaware is right next to Maryland. The accents will blend. Thats like saying people in northern Delaware talk like they’re from southeastern PA. New Castle is not part of Pennsylvania. Separation Day is a real thing. So when you stop saying wudder they’ll stop speaking with a twang.
And the crack about the south was a joke because Dorian Gray was talking about how everything south of Dover is completely backwoods, but he’ll deal with it to visit their beaches. I guess they don’t teach sarcasm up there.
And my sister was busy last night so yours had to do. She says hi by the way.
Ben wrote:
Oh, that’s easy! Send them to play Dungeons & Dragons at the nearest ComicCon, with real siege engines!
My point still stands. Yes there is engineering involved in launching a pumpkin using various methods and I “get” the whole challenge of it. Just like I “get” the engineering challenges of go-fast, turn-left racing.
That does not make it any less red-necky.
Its great that women and children are fielding teams. Good for them. Seriously, good for them. Not trying to be snarky. If that’s what you do, then by all means, do it. Not my thing. Given the choice I would go to a roundy round race because my cousin works security and can get me in the pits.
And for the record I am a mechanical engineer by degree and spent my childhood summers in NC where my family plot has CSA grave markers. So lets just say I have some familiarity with “my people.”
I never wrote that everything south of Dover is completely backwater. I think everything below Smyrna is completely backwater, but I didn’t write it, did I? (I’m just joking of course, but only just.) You know what else is completely backwater? Incessantly cherry-picking “top-ten” clickbait lists from the internet about how dangerous Wilmington is…
The fact is most of us go about our day completely safe. We drive much less so we walk to theatres, restaurants, bars, parks and museums and basically enjoy ourselves. This past weekend I paddled a canoe down the Brandywine and under the Gov Printz Blvd bridge – with black people no less. See city people even like nature!
Certain neighborhoods are dangerous late at night and because the population is relatively small the numbers can be played with to scare parents, farmers, racists, &c.
The original point was that although there is a hip/nerd/engineer/Mythbusters aspect to the event, it’s basically drunk crackers catapulting pumpkins. It’s stupid and I hope it’s finished for good.
New Castle county has nothing on the the art, food and culture at the beaches in Sussex County. Pumpkin Chunkin is partially a rural locals event but is also a huge traditional event here that drawls large regional crowds. Its a sad November in Sussex County without Pumpkin Chunkin.
“If anything brings shame on Delaware it would be the most dangerous city in the country, Wilmington and last time I checked it’s up north.”
Right. No shame about your politicians, who can’t keep their peckers in their pants. No shame about a sheriff cashing in on treason. No shame about voting for a penny-ante grifter like O’Donnell.No shame about spending several hundred thousand dollars fighting for the right to say the Lord’s Prayer during public meetings.
You apparently don’t know the meaning of “shame.”
@Mouse – That’s just not factual. Like Colbert’s truthiness. I know that’s what you’d like to think. It feels true to you. But it isn’t
The (recently disgraced) Delaware Art Museum still (still!) has the greatest collection of Pre-Raphaelite art outside the British Museum in London. We have the Grand Opera House and the Queen. Delaware Theatre Company, City Theatre Company, Wilmington Ballet. Opera Delaware… I just bought two pieces of art from the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art.
James Beard nominee chef at La Fia… I could go on. And the real difference is… I can walk SAFELY to all of it.
I can even walk to the train station and be in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and DC without operating a car.
And that’s just Wilmington not the entire county… which includes all the art and music and culture at the University in Newark.
Feel free to defend squash chucking and the beach and all things Sussex. That’s cool. Just don’t make ridiculous statements.
Hey now DG…. bitching about the lack of things to do in Delaware, while being unaware of all the things to do in Delaware, is a time honored Delaware tradition.
New Castle county has nothing on the the art, food and culture at the beaches in Sussex County.
This is a joke, right?
I can bike into Rehoboth along an incredible trail through the dunes and marsh from Cape Henlopen State park, go to a french gourmet restaurant for crepes, another for a fruit smoothie and let my 14 year old daughter wonder the boards to Funland. I can can hang out at the art league in Rehoboth with the 1%, take art courses and go to art shows. I can go to lectures at the University of DE Marine studies in Lewes. I can go to free music events at several beach towns and bars. I can go to Lewes and see the beginning of the European conquest with restored architecture from the 1600’s. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in polluted ugly overcrowded New Castle County. Hell the bars in Dewey offer more music and entertainment than most of NCC.
Of course a city with 300,000 people and 700,000 in the county may have a few more things available than Rehoboth with its 1500 permanent residents. But considering the quality of the food, art and entertainment, I stand by my first post. Plus how many times has NCC won the pumpkin chunkin world championship, LOL
@mouse
You know if you keep touting the social and cultural aspects of Eastern Sussex County, some of them are gonna get the idea in their heads to come down and see for themselves and do you really, really want that? Best to let NCC folks think that SC is homogeneous (redneck, RWNJ, Punkin Chunkin land).
Good point. Don’t come to Sussex County. The area is full of mosquitos, jelly fish, gun toting rednecks and chicken manure everywhere. Beware
LOL! If people didn’t come to the beaches Sussex would be in huge financial trouble. You guys need tourists… desperately. Can’t survive without them.
We have a place at the beach and my kids have spent most of every summer there. I can appreciate what the beaches have to offer and understand why people like living there. I couldn’t do it. I’m more of “it’s a nice place to visit” sorta person. And one of the reasons I couldn’t live there is because it is homogenous. I find the lack of diversity disconcerting.
(I also hate the outlets and strip malls with a passion. What a hunk of junk. Whoever allowed that mess to be built should be arrested and charged with vandalism and destruction of property.)
And this statement: “New Castle county has nothing on the the art, food and culture at the beaches in Sussex County” made me laugh out loud. It would be like me telling my friends who live in NYC/Philly that the big apple/city of brotherly love has nothing on the art, food and culture in Wilmington. Which would be a silly statement.
I love the Northern Delaware elitism…when I try to explain to people in the large city I live in now how 1/3 of Delaware thinks itself superior to the rest, they assume its Sussex because that is the place they actually go and visit and does not contain the major heroine throughway of the east coast.
Having the opinion “we are so superior to anyone that would _____,” that blank being watch Nascar, live in KC or SC, enjoy Punkin Chunkin , or anything else shows how inferior you really are intellectually (not meant at those making the comments in jest). Bunch of self-important, little fish in a little pond.
As a side note…I spent over a month living in the worlds most dangerous city and I can say by comparison Wilmington is a playground in the park, you guys can’t even do “most dangerous city” right…
Wow, a bike ride and a smoothie and old buildings… all you need is a replica Eiffel Tower and it’d be indistinguishable from Paris down there.
Look, there’s stuff to do everywhere, but if you intend on convincing me that the culture and scene in Rehoboth and Lewes is even 1/10 of Wilmington’s you are going to be in quite a bind.
I get that resorts have things to do. I get that you’re not all backwards rubes. But the comparison you are trying to make is fucking ridiculous
Same kind of thing as short man’s disease..
I’m starting to tell people to vacation in NCC where the beaches are much nicer than Sussex. My favorite is the beach near the oil refinery with a view of the nuclear power plant. Rent is much cheaper there too.
@Really?… Wilmington is superior to Sussex Co. in culture and arts, probably because it’s just bigger. It’s a small city rather than a rural sprawl west of a few resorts. That’s all we are saying. i understand why someone might prefer that to the city, but let’s stop with the inane idea that Sussex Co is some bastion of culture and cosmopolitan ideas…
I started this because I personally find Pumpkin Chunking fucking ridiculous. Moreover, NASCAR is one of the only places you’ll see more than one confederate flag in one place. Aside from perhaps a Ted Nugent show.
And I agree, Wilmington isn’t dangerous.
The ridicule of southern delaware comes from the fact that we always see these dumb clickbait top ten internet list showing how dangerous Wilmington is when it isn’t. If Wilmington has a elitism issue, Sussex Co has an inferiority complex.
This…
“If Wilmington has a elitism issue, Sussex Co has an inferiority complex.”
… Is completely true. Non-city residents are quick to trash the city, but let someone say one word against where they live and their heads explode. Therapy might help with these insecurities. 😉
Lets also stop with the inane idea that New Castle County is some bastion of culture and cosmopolitan ideas. Delaware is what it is…NCC is like the starting quarterback on small town football team, so I hear the NCC chest-thumping in much the same light.
Punkin Chunkin has grown into a world-wide competition and it obviously has bigger appeal than the few farmers who started it. Thousands of people go visit a small farm outside of Cleveland each fall because the farmer has an air cannon and launches pumpkins every 20 minutes (yeah…i’ve been there)…so I guess those big redneck, backwater hicks in Cleveland need someone like you to browbeat them into feeling small.
Most of the things that bring Delaware positive news (punkin chunkin, beaches, races, firefly, etc) are taking place in the slow low, so just take a step or two down from high and mighty land and give it a tiny amount of respect.
Compare the top 20 restaruants in NCC with the top 20 in Sussex County. Compare any category; gourmet, seafood, sushi, water front, Sunday brunch, coffee, brew pubs…Compare any farmer’s market in NCC with the one at the historic complex in Lewes. Compare any art leage in NCC with Rehoboth Art league. Compare any music venue in NCC with Dewey Beach… Compare the number of art galleries. Its very telling. And who comes to NCC and pays 5K a week to stay there.
I never said NCCo was a bastion of culture. I simply said Sussex wasn’t.
And I have been to Cleveland and I have familiy there. I’d rather spend time in Gumboro, Selbyville…
the fact that everyone is arguing over Delaware is f-ing ridiculous.
Seriously…. we dont deserve something as awesome as PC if that’s how the snoody North wants to characterize it.
Delaware’s beaches are MUCH nicer than, say, Jersey. IN fact…. prettymuch everything in Delaware… booming heroine (and dont forget meth) trade included… is better than Jersey. Dont fight each other, fellow first state brethren (and sistrin). There is a much worse, smellier foe across the crik.
Are there places in NCC where they keep the minorities behind a big cinder block wall like they do in Rehoboth?
Well Dorian…we can agree on Cleveland at least.
Solid work @ben, good stuff.
@mouse: OK. Let’s do it in January. You can’t compare a resort area to a year-round-residency area. The beaches in January have only slightly more decent restaurants than Seaford does.
Oh, and Punkin’ Chunkin rocks. I don’t go anymore because it grew too big, but back in the day when it attracted only a thousand or so spectators it was a lot of fun. Until the debut of the first air cannon, it was like watching an arms race, anticipating what people would come up with next.
Well Seaford only has one, Bon Appetit Restaurant. I know its not really a fair comparison with Sussex having such superior fine dining, so I would think even being handicapped with a January comparison, Sussex would have more quality restaurants open than NCC. The number of Starbucks is a good indicator of culture. Compare that number..
There’s guys down here who secretly work on those air cannons all year and live for it.
Mouse, please name quality NCC restaurants that you’ve eaten at. (And if you name chains, I’ll point out that you guys have more than your fair share of them, as well. Hello? Cracker Barrel?)
I haven’t said the beaches don’t have good restaurants – and I’ve eaten at many of them – but you seem to know a lot about NCC culture and why it’s inferior. Perhaps, you could be more specific. Thanks.
Well, if I have to go up there, I do like the mushroom soup at Buckley’s Tavern
The best French restaurant in Delaware is the Green Room at the Hotel DuPont. A few blocks down is La Fia Bakery and Bistro, and Krazy Kats in Greenville is 10 minutes outside of the city. And none of those restaurants is in a county with a 12 foot block wall separating the blacks from the rest of the population.
West Rehoboth is not in the town limits of Rehoboth and the wall is only about 6 ft tall. The Back Porch comes to mind as a good comparison
So… Buckley’s. That’s it for restaurants? How about that culture you were referencing. What cultural events/locations have you attended in NCC?
As long as Rehoboth Beach has a wall between the haves and the have-nots (or the whites and the blacks – the wall was constructed to keep those West Rehoboth blacks away from the rich people) it will never be a anything but a cultural cesspool.
I didn’t know about the wall. Is that for real? If so, for shame.
Shouldn’t we be arguing about the best Mexican food in Rehoboth?
Or perhaps the lack of a good Thai place. When it’s on my way, I don’t mind going to the Ubon on the riverfront but it’s not always convenient.
As far as Mexican goes, I’d have to give points to Agave in Lewes, but I spent a long number of years in California and I’m pretty picky about Mexican food. And no one seems to be able to make tamales on the East Coast.
Yes, there is a wall separating great unwashed of West Rehoboth from the rest of Rehoboth. It has broken glass set across the top and everything. Next time you’re in town, Pandora, check it out, it’s a monument to racism.
There is no Indian food in Sussex County.
I don’t eat at restaurants anymore if I can help it, but Rehoboth (and the other resort towns to a lesser extent) has for at least 30 years (since the Back Porch opened) been Delaware’s most concentrated area for excellent restaurants.
One reason New Castle County doesn’t have as many as it should is the proximity of Philadelphia and its myriad BYOB establishments. Delaware outlawed them some years ago, making dining out in Wilmington more expensive than doing so in Philadelphia. As a result many in northern Delaware just drive to Philly for restaurant dining — a shorter drive in minutes than Georgetown to Rehoboth.
There is no wall. There are two neighborhoods which face in that direction with gates and one with a sign – but no wall.
“Mouse, please name quality NCC restaurants that you’ve eaten at.”
im not mouse…
but, 2 Stones Pub (either of em) Mikimotos, Taverna (newark) Iron Hill….. there are a surprising amount of great eateries up here
Some good Mexican food in Georgetown too. I don’t get up to NCC very often. Why would I, I live at the beach, lol. I’ve not been to many NCC restaurants. Stone Balloon, Klindike Kates??, That place near the airport with military decor, Water works.
I haven’t been to any cultural events in NCC except the Hagley Museum and DE Museum of art. Too busy with craft shows and festivals here at the beach. Jazz Fest next in Rehoboth.
of all those places you mentioned, i think only Kates is left. And it has turned into a fratty mess. (were you talking about Arners?)
Yes, thanks. Its been a long time. I don’t get up there like I did some years ago. Lots of cool stuff around.
Nope, Mouse meant Air Transport Command, which is flat-out gone.
Two stones was an out growth of Rehoboth’s Pickled Pig Pub and Pig and Fish. I believe Stigs is still an owner of the latter. I think the food has suffered abit since the last expansion.
The Green Room is still the best Frenchie, hands down. Absolutely consistent. Back Porch and Blue Moon have been hit or miss for the last two years.
Agave is the most overhyped restaurant I can think of. I ‘ve been completely underwhelmed each time I have been, that I will no longer go there.
Yes, that was a fun place
I like the Sunday Brunch at the Moon and the Back Porch. Victoria’s Ocean Front for the same. Sushi at the Cultured Perl. Seafood at Big Fish, Henlopen Oyster House or Fin’s. Matt Hailey’s places are all good. Greenman for for fruit smoothies or organic. Cafe Papillion for crepes or french pastries.
Can we all agree that Kent County has zero quality non-chain restaurants? When I come home to visit I feel like my choices are like 6 degrees of Olive Garden.
Shameful.