The History of Loaded Boing
Punkin Chunk 1996
Ready . . . Set . . . GO!
Loaded Boing was an idea that was first conceived out of the 1988 World Championship Pumpkin Chunk at Bill Thompson's farmhouse near Georgetown, Delaware.
A man in this area known as Hippy Tom dreamed of the day he would be hurling in public to the screams of thousands of people. A few years passed as Hippy Tom kept working on his dream machine. In 1993 he debuted with some garage door springs and some hope. That year was the beginning of a long strange trip to what is now, the world's most dangerous slingshot. The boys on his team were skeptical; the first machine only threw a few feet. There was a preconceived notion from Hippy Tom that he could only make it better. Better it became in the years to come. Dream on Hippy Tom.
In 1994 the winds of change were blowing hard as Tom made the monumental decision to switch to rubber bands and telephone poles. Loaded Boing could only get better at this point. There was not stopping these boys now, they were hungry for distance and the thought of hurling in public. Never had they worked so hard on a project. Thoughts of high school geometry, physics and shop were itching to come out of their minds. With 20 rubber bands pulling back 40' with a 39 degree trajectory providing a loftier flight of the punkin. HippieTom pulled back his bands and released. The bucket went forwards and backwards twice before releasing the punkin to a then world record reverse chunk of 84'. This throw resulted in the birth of the Loaded Boing post gravitational punkin return team corp. as a safty measureThe 1995 Chunk rolled in on a monster monsoon storm, around 6 p.m. Friday night. Loaded Boing was set up and ready to rock and roll. The Loaded Boing house band Just Us cranked out the jams in an army tent and a quagmire of mud, on a freezing night. Saturday morning dawned clear and cold, with a promise of a good chunk weekend. 6 latex surgical tubes streched back 96' resulted in a line drive chunk of 394'.
Loaded Boing took to the playing field in high spirits for a championship run. With all their might they tried, they could not take down the Mighty Gene's machine. A second place finish would have to be sufficient with a throw of 394 feet.
The 1996 chunk started with the now traditional Friday night jam with Just Us. Hippy Tom felt inspired as he strategically placed his telephone poles, and broke out his new set of rubber bands. He had a feeling that his chances in the catapult division were just increased immensely with Gene not showing his previous might.
As the last throw approached on Sunday afternoon, the Loaded Boing team, (Hippy Tom, Pugs, Paul, Adam, Stevie, John, Cindy, Neil, and Johnny), were informed that a sure win could be had if they could simply reach the snow fence, a mere 10 feet from the poles. With high spirits, the Boing team pulled back on the rubber bands, with great anticipation. Hippy Tom gave a quick pull on the tree pruner trigger, and Loaded Boing was launched into the history books as the 1996 World Championship Catapult Punkin Chunkin' team. The throw was a phenomenal 493 feet. It led the team to a proud victory...
1996 World Championship Winning Pull Back