TOPSFIELD, Mass. (October 1, 2012)--Organizers of the Topsfield Fair in northeastern Massachusetts claim a Rhode Island man set a new world record with the first pumpkin ever to weigh more than a ton.

Fair officials say the huge gourd grown by Ron Wallace of Greene, R.I., tipped the scales at 2,009 pounds Friday, winning him $5,500 for first place and another $10,000 as a bonus for breaking the one-ton mark.

The Guinness World Record for heaviest pumpkin is 1,810.5 pounds set by Chris Stevens of New Richmond, Wis., at the Stillwater Harvest Fest in Stillwater, Minn., in October 2010.

On Thursday, Steve Geddes of Boscawen, N.H., appeared to break that record at the Deerfield Fair in Deerfield, N.H., with a pumpkin that weighs 1,843 pounds, but Wallace’s would top that, too.