A Hanover County man won the giant watermelon blue ribbon at the State Fair of Virginia with a hefty fruit weighing in at 246 pounds.
Davis Wells has competed in the fair’s Giant Veggie Weigh-Off since 2004.
A back-and-forth competition with the late Hank Houston of Spotsylvania County forged a friendship and 11-year rivalry that continued even after Houston’s death.
Wells claimed seven consecutive blue ribbons from 2007 through 2013 and another two in 2015 and 2016. He was just one watermelon away from his 10th win when Houston knocked him off the leaderboard in 2017.
“Hank was the only one that kept knocking me off,” said Wells. “He’d beat me just a little bit then come on and harass me—all in good fun.”
Houston’s won last year’s competition with a 224-pound winning watermelon.
“I thought I had it last year, and he laughed the whole year and said, ‘I’m going to keep you out of it as long as I can, but you’ll probably get me,’” Wells said.
Houston died unexpectedly earlier this year, but through his family, he competed in one last competition with Wells.
Houston’s family brought his giant watermelon to the competition, and it placed fifth at 191.4 pounds.
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Crystal Graham
