BERLIN — Punkin’ Chunkin, a wildly popular event on Delmarva each fall, has been canceled this year after a civil suit was filed last week by a media member severely injured when one of the massive contraptions malfunctioned and blew up last year.
For decades, the World Punkin’ Chunkin’ Championships have been held at various locations in neighboring Delaware, attracting an estimated 100,000 enthusiasts from all over the Lower Shore including busloads from the resort area.
Last year, however, one of the large air gun contraptions capable of launching a pumpkin nearly a mile essentially blew up from the intense pressure, launching large, heavy chunks of metal into the air that rained down on spectators and participants. One media member, Suzanne Dakessian, who was covering the event for the Science Channel, was struck in the head and face by a large trap door that fell from the sky and suffered catastrophic injuries.
Last week, Dakessian filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court seeking an undisclosed amount of punitive and compensatory damages. The suit names the event promoter, the individual competitor whose air gun contraption failed, the owner of the property on which the event is held and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control among others. As a result, World Punkin Chunkin Association officials this week announced the 2017 event has been canceled.
“Our non-profit, the World Punkin Chunkin Association, a 100-percent volunteer-based group, has recently come under litigation regarding the incident where Ms. Suzanne Dakessian, a Sharp Entertainment employee, was involved in an unfortunate accident at our 2016 event,” the statement reads. “The pending lawsuit lists our non-profit and its officers as defendants. The landowners who graciously donate the use of their property each year for our non-profit endeavors are also listed as defendants. They are reluctant to host our 2017 event in light of the lawsuit.”
The promoter’s statement goes on to continue to wish the victim and her family the best of luck in her recovery, but points out there is little recourse other than canceling Punkin’ Chunkin’ in 2017.
“With less than 74 days until our event, we are left with no options,” the statement reads. “It with our deepest regrets that we announce tht 2017 Punkin Chunkin is cancelled and with it the economic impact that Delaware receives, the funds that we generate to help fund other non-profits and the scholarships for deserving youth. Refunds will be issued within the week. It is unfortunate that Suzanne Dakessian was injured and we continue to extend our best wishes to her, her family and her loved ones. We have no further comment at this time.”
The civil suit last week describes the various different categories and apparatus in the event, including the massive air guns that can launch pumpkins nearly a mile.
“Air gun contraptions, essentially oversized homemade air guns, are able to shoot pumpkins the farthest, often over 4,000 feet or just shy of a mile,” the complaint reads. “In order to accomplish this, the air gun-type contraptions feature huge air tanks that are under thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch. When the pressure is released, the air forces the pumpkins out of metal barrels that are tens of feet long, launching the pumpkins into the air with incredible force. Though the various pumpkin-launching contraptions are huge, often over 30 feet long and 20 feet high, they are all homemade, consisting of cobbled-together parts fabricated into highly powerful machines.”
The suit alleges the competitors continue to ramp up the pressure on the air guns as the completion nears conclusion.
“As the competition progresses, competitors seek to push their contraptions further and further to achieve longer pumpkin launches in the final shots of the competition,” the complaint reads. “For the air gun participants, that means increasing the pressure of the giant air canisters, and thereby the violence of the shot. The resulting increased pressure and sudden release of pressure increases the likelihood of catastrophic failure.”
According to the complaint, the Pumpkin Reaper was preparing to fire its final shot of the competition when the operator increased the pressure in the compressed air canister.
“During this final shot of the competition, Pumpkin Reaper’s trap door, which is used for loading pumpkins into the contraption and is approximately the size of a car door, detached and flew off, propelling the door and other parts of the Pumpkin Reaper into the air,” the complaint reads. “The various pieces of the Pumpkin Reaper, including but not limited to its extremely heavy trap door, began to rain down with the competition and media area while Ms Dakessian was standing. Ms. Dakessian started to run, but looked over her shoulder just as the heavy car door-sized trap door made of metal fell from the sky, striking her with tremendous force in the head and face.”
