Jack LaRueBorn – 1951 (ish)

Wife – Sherry

Kids – Jenelle, Michelle, Lisa, Kayla

Hometown – Tenino, Washington

Grew First Atlantic Giant – 1984 – 154 lbs

Entered first GPC weigh-off in 1994

Blah, Blah, Blah…..

But Come on folks……………. Really……………………. When it gets right down to it……..

You Don’t Know Jack!

If you have never beat the tar out of a deer with a ‘T’ post because it was constantly getting into your garden……..

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never uprooted over 15’ of somebody else’s pumpkin plant (Tim Parks) just to “show you how we do it in the Pacific Northwest”…….

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never taken a 2-week cruise to Alaska in August with your wife during the middle of the pumpkin season ...... And then constantly complained how far behind you were……….

August 2007

You don’t know Jack!

If you have never flown clear across the country to Maine to try and help Al & Yvette Berard beat Bill Clark………………………

You don’t know Jack!

If you have never shown Dave Stelts how to ‘properly’ break the stem off a potential world record pumpkin……………………..

You don’t know Jack!

If you have never built a retaining wall in your garden because the soil was getting too deep………….

Before After

You don’t know Jack!

If you have never posed with Rock & Shellie Rivard with Shellie’s prize pumpkin while holding a ‘giant skunk’………………….

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never been known as the ‘Pigeon Whisperer’ and could actually hold a pigeon without it pooping in your hand…….

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never flown half way around the world to be the guest of honor at the Japanese National Pumpkin weigh-off and then at the last minute be asked to give a speech to over 500 non-English speaking Japanese pumpkin enthusiasts ………

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never built (4) 2000 – 3000 square foot greenhouses just to start your (24) giant pumpkin plants in………….

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never worn a Japanese robe to a pumpkin weigh-off……

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never bribed Gary Miller with a beer to get a ‘sneak peak’ at the competition then………..

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never had Brett Hester name a pumpkin after you…….

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never had the opportunity to embarrass Jerry Rose in front of over 200 giant pumpkin growers……..

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never posed for a picture wondering what a redneck pumpkin grower from Washington wearing a polo shirt while modeling your snorkeling gear looks like…………………..

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never dressed up like a bottle of ketchup, jumped into a giant pumpkin, surrounded your self with a table cloth and paddled your pumpkin around a lake……..

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never dressed up like scarecrow, squeezed into a giant pumpkin, surrounded your self with corn stalks and paddled your pumpkin around a lake……..

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never hit on another condiment at the annual pumpkin regatta…..

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never posed with every single giant fruit and vegetable in Leonardo Urena’s garden…………………………….

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never grown a 1420.5 lb pumpkin, the biggest pumpkin in the United States and second biggest pumpkin in the world in 2004 , when 1400 lbs WASN’T a

common occurance…………………

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never conceived a plan with Al Eaton that involved crossing the two biggest pumpkins grown in the world in 2004 to eventually result in Christy Harp’s world record 1725 lb pumpkin, then……

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never spent hours on a phone conversation discussing pumpkins with someone you’ve never met or even heard of but didn’t mind………………………..

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never taken every opportunity to share your personal successes with your closest friends………

You don’t know Jack!

If you’ve never shared nearly everything you’ve done for over 30 years with the same person and former competitor turned team mate………..

You don’t know

Jack or Sherry!

Finally now that all of you THINK that you know Jack, we all know the REAL reason that Jack LaRue is so popular…….

NOW you know Jack!

Ladies & Gentlemen Please stand with me and welcome my friend, my mentor, one of the best growers in the world and YOUR 2010 GPC Hall of

Fame Inductee…….