Giant 1,436-pound pumpkin takes the crown at Alaska State Fair

What you need to know:

• Anchorage resident Dale Marshall won the 20th annual Alaska State Fair Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off for the ninth straight year with a 1,436-pound pumpkin, earning a $1,000 prize.
• Chugiak resident Keith Malone placed second with his 291-pound pumpkin, “Joan Blondell,” while Wasilla resident Wink Hinkley took third with a 40.5-pound pumpkin.
• Marshall said Alaska’s unusually chilly summer made pumpkin growing particularly difficult this year.
• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

PALMER — A 1,436-pound pale orange pumpkin with no name took the crown at the Alaska State Fair Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off on Monday afternoon, marking nine straight wins for reigning pumpkin champ Dale Marshall.

Marshall’s entry far outweighed its closest competitor, a 291-pound light yellow pumpkin grown by Chugiak resident Keith Malone that he dubbed “Joan Blondell” in honor of the iconic Hollywood actor.

Hundreds of people crowded around the ring in the fair’s livestock barn to witness the event, which marked its 20th anniversary Monday.

Marshall has participated in 18 of those competitions and won 15 of them outright. He said this year was tough for growing because the summer weather was abnormally chilly.

“That’s the lightest one we’ve had in 12 years,” he said. “It’s been a lousy summer.”

Malone said just getting a pumpkin to the fair is half the battle. Four pumpkins he grew in 2024 cracked or didn’t grow well, and he had nothing to enter.

This year, he was glad to be back with a pumpkin to compete against his personal best, a 620.5-pound pumpkin dubbed “Little Baby” that won him second place in 2023.

“It’s a competition between me and myself,” he said.

Marshall, whose pumpkins have come in smaller each year since 2024, said he hopes to start boosting the weight again next year. He set the state record in 2022 with a 2,147-pound whopper. 

“It’s two years in a row I’m going backwards — I need to turn this boat around,” he said.

Marshall received a $1,000 cash prize for his pumpkin, while Malone received $500 for his second-place entry. A third pumpkin, entered by Wasilla resident Wink Hinkley, came in at 40.5 pounds for a $250 third-place finish.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com