Article run in the Lowell Ledger, October 14, 2009:

The second annual Pumpkin Chuckin Contest sponsored by the Kent County Youth Fair was held during the Harvest Festival this past Saturday in Lowell. Take three teenagers, some wood and a common vision, build a trebuchet that will chuck a pumpkin several hundred feet. That is what Nick Lane, Grant Pell and Matt Bigford all from Caledonia did. They researched, designed and built their machine as a team. “I really like building big things, but they have to have a purpose” said Lane. “We learned to work as a team and to rely on each other. We made our decisions as a group. We worked hard and are proud of the results. Unfortunately, Matt was away this weekend on a family trip, we know that he would have loved to be here, he was a big part of the teams success.” Said Lane.
“I want to encourage kids to go after what they like to do. Not only did we win the contest, but more importantly we worked as a team and have formed a great friendship, definitely a win win situation.” Said Pell. It is clear that Team Locked and Loaded did much more than chucking a pumpkin. The team will have the trophy until the contest next year; they were already discussing who gets it first!!