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Muddy Waters

Been riding high in the clouds lately, with how well the GWG is doing.Wow! I thought to myself how did I get started in this great sport?Ray's 1996 Promo came to mind.My Uncle Jud showed up at my door in 1996 with a flyer 50,000$ for the first 1000 pounder.We were growing big moon type kins then.Great promo Ray,you have inspired me to help improve this great sport.Lets keep the Buzz going!!ATTA BOY RAY!!!

11/30/2011 8:43:03 PM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

Mark, well put. Ray Waterman as far as I'm concerned is a class act. Make no mistake, I am a Dill man, but Ray is a true pioneer. Don't care for politics, all my dealings with him were honest and more than fair. I hope he grows a pumpkin next season. For that matter, I wish Howard and some of the other greats were still here with us to show us how it's done.

11/30/2011 9:33:15 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Funny. I was talking to Don Langevin today and Ray Waterman's name came up. Don told me how helpful Ray was to him when he wrote the first of his 3 books about pumpkins. Don said that if it were not for Ray there would never have been a book. Older growers will recall that those books were a major contributing source relative to where pumpkin growing is today. There was no Internet and no Bigpumpkins.com. Don's books were the major source of info on how to go about raising a big pumpkin and at the time served as "the Bible of pumpkin growing." Paula Zehr, who grew the first 1000 pound pumpkin was certainly stimulated to do so by the prize that ended up being hers. Ray also started the World Pumpkin Federation (I think that was the name.) without which the GPC concept may never have been, since the GPC was modeled very much after what Ray started.I believe "pumpkin politics" caused Ray to never recieve the recognition he well deserved. In my humble opinion, too bad. But then again maybe now is the time to correct some of that. Maybe the GPC could give Ray some of the recognition he, in my opinion, deserves. What do some of you old timers, Pap, you fit in, think?

11/30/2011 9:54:03 PM

Mt.Pleasant,Iowa

If it was not for Ray I would not probably be growing today.
Thanks again Ray!

12/1/2011 7:05:22 PM

Central Ca

Same here Marty. Thank you. -Kevin

12/4/2011 11:37:07 PM