The Shreveport Times

The Shreveport Times

Record state watermelon growin in Converse patch
Father, son have hopes of beating world record.
August 26, 2006
By Vickie Welbron
vwelborn@gannet.com

CONVERSE-- Donnie sistrunk Jr. and his 15-year-old son Rusty Sistrunk set out this year to raise a state record watermelon--and they did it in July.

But hidden in a patch behind their rural Converse home was a still-growing monster. It's growing no more.

With family members, Sabine County Agent Paul Morris and two representative of the Lousisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry hovering around him at noon Friday, Rusty cut the vine to the whopper of all Louisiana watermelons. At 252.4 pounds, the melon is a new state record.
(click link above for the rest of the story and pic of the youth with his prize winning melon)

Here's a story for all those people who want to get their kids involved in gardening in one form or another. On message boards I read a lot about how today's youth are just not interested in the hobby and how most clubs are desperate for new blood. Since I don't move in gardening circles I'm not really sure if it really is a problem or something that every generation of gardeners comes across and notices. But here is at least one father and son team that dispells the theory.