MANCI hosts Ohio prisons' 1st pumpkin-growing challenge
Even Charlie Brown, Linus and the Peanuts gang would marvel at the great pumpkins that were grown throughout Ohio and on display at the Mansfield Correctional Institution on Monday.
The Giant Pumpkin Challenge Weigh in at MANCI on Monday was a sight to behold, with pumpkins from about 12 of Ohio's prison facilities on display, transported by pickups to the Ohio 13 prison for an inaugural event aimed at bringing people together at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Belmont Correctional Institution took home the first-place trophy at first Giant Pumpkin Challenge Weigh In with a pumpkin that weighed 596 pounds.
The pumpkin, named Pipsqueak, had to be lifted by a forklift with straps to be placed on the scale. Other pumpkins, not as heavy, were carefully placed on the scale by men using tarps to lift their entries.
Winning team mentored by pumpkin-growing champ
The winning pumpkin was grown by the team of Michelle Theil, a secretary at Belmont Correctional for 26 years, corrections officer John Jaskowaik, and incarcerated individuals at the facility in St. Clairsville, Ohio.
The gigantic pumpkin had a bit of help from Theil's husband Jeff, who mentored the team. He happens to be an award-winning state champion pumpkin grower who competes annually in a worldwide competition, operated under the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth.
The pumpkin had a bit of orange but was mostly beige, or gourd-like, in color. The team actually grew two pumpkins but the other one rotted from the bottom, Michelle Theil said.
Without giving away any secrets, the Theils (pronounced Tiles) said the pumpkin required a lot of water and came from a Giant Atlantic seed.
MANCI corrections Sgt. Ruby Waltz organized the event to bring everyone together for some fun. Before the weigh in, pumpkins were measured from stem to bloom.
Waltz had the idea for the event, and for four years has operated a community garden with the help of inmates at the local prison grounds. Next year the inmates at MANCI are going to put in an orchard, all with funds coming from a grant, she added. Everything she does with gardening is from grants, Waltz added.
Last year the community garden of fruits and vegetables grown at MANCI raised 9,500 pounds of produce. This year that total was 6,500 pounds, something MANCI Warden Tim McConahay said he is very proud of, as the gardens provide food for residents in three counties through the nonprofit food bank Matthew 25. The produce goes to communities in Ashland, Wayne and Richland counties.
Mansfield prison garden covers an acre
The MANCI community garden is about an acre and this year yielded tomatoes, peppers, garlic, mint, corn, turnips, greens, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cucumbers, okra, carrots and more.
Waltz, you might say, has a green thumb.
And of course, Waltz and her team grew pumpkins.
"We grew three giants pumpkins and 40 small pumpkins, the smaller ones went to Ronald McDonald House in Columbus," she said.
Waltz's work is never done. The gardening team is already prepping the ground for next year.
Monday, Waltz's team displayed two bright, orange pumpkins grown using compost and water. Her team took fourth place with pumpkins weighing in 93 and 84 pounds.
"They really worked hard on them," she said of MANCI inmates.
The contest rules were simple. All pumpkins had to be grown organically. Pumpkin seeds could not be put in the ground until June 1.
Traveling to Mansfield from London Correctional, employees Tess Rowe, a nurse, and Adam Conley, an environmental specialist, said it was fun to grow the pumpkins with inmates at work. It was their first attempt at growing pumpkins.
Lebanon Correctional wins second place with 110-pound pumpkin
Jeff Theil and his father Bill served as emcees for the first prisons' pumpkin challenge, sharing some tips about pumpkin growing and the many huge pumpkins they grew for the Barnesville Pumpkin Festival over the years.
Taking second place was Lebanon Correctional Institution, whose team's pumpkin weighed 110 pounds. London Correctional Institution took third place with a pumpkin weighing 95 pounds.
Annette Chambers-Smith, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation, attended the event and lauded the competition for bringing people together.
Waltz said Chambers-Smith renamed the pumpkin challenge, the ODRC Larry Stewart Pumpkin Challenge, to honor Waltz's father Larry Stewart, who died Sept. 27 at age 76.
Waltz has worked at MANCI for 27 years. On top of her regular duties, she also is in charge of a gardening program.
She said her parents Larry and Dorothy Stewart taught her gardening in Chillicothe at a young age. Gardening is something she loves and the inmates love too. Because of so much rain, there was a lot of weeding to be done this summer, she added.
"I was honored and proud that everyone was so interested in my ideas and being here," she said.
lwhitmir@gannett.com
419-521-7223
Twitter:@Lwhitmir
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: MANCI hosts 1st ever Ohio prison pumpkin challenge
