Ryan Cormier

The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

BRIDGEVILLE, Del. — During its two-year hiatus, World Championship Punkin Chunkin officials looked into moving from its longtime Bridgeville home to an area near Dover Downs Hotel & Casino and even considered shipping it out of state, eyeing multiple Maryland locations.

After two years of wrestling with a possible move and failing to find an insurer for the iconic Delaware event in 2014 and 2015, attention is about to shift away from Punkin Chunkin's behind the scenes drama and back onto what's important: pumpkins flying through the air like heat-seeking missiles.

Punkin Chunkin returns to the Wheatley Farms in Bridgeville this weekend for three days of gliding gourds cutting across the sky and all is now right with the world.

Watermelons away! Summer fruit to fly in Punkin Chunkin-style event

A crowd of 30,000 is expected to watch 109 teams compete Friday through Sunday -- quite a different scene than when it started in a Sussex County backyard in 1986.

But even though the competition is back, fully insured and will once again be the subject of a national TV special, that doesn't mean everything is the same as it ever was.

A resurrected Punkin Chunkin means new alcohol rules, new online ticket sales and a new cable channel in charge of the special.

For the first time, Punkin Chunkin will no longer be an unregulated BYOB affair due to both new insurance rules and a desire to clean up the sometimes-rowdy three-day event. (A personal injury lawsuit filed in 2013 spawned the insurance problems. The complaint was filed by an ATV driver seriously injured in a rollover accident, but was dismissed.)

"I wanted to cut [alcohol] back," says Frank Payton, elected president of World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association earlier this year. "This is a family fun event, but we still wanted to let the partiers party. I want to see the legacy that started in Sussex County continue on and the path we were going down would not allow it to continue."

Chunk fans can no longer tailgate in the general parking lot. And since the trees have grown in the past couple of years, the action is no longer viewable from the lot, which will be under the watchful eyes of state police and other security for any problems. Tailgating will only be allowed in the designated VIP parking/tailgate area or camp sites. (Those passes cost $75-$260.)

Beer will be sold inside the event at a new beer garden for $5 each or five for $20. Both of Delaware's major beer distributors are on board -- Standard and NKS -- meaning Bud Light and Miller Lite will co-exist in harmony at the same event. That's a true rarity.

Available brews will include Coors, Coors Light, Budweiser, Bud Light, Miller Lite, Yuengling, Blue Moon, Goose Island, Michelob Ultra, Shock Top, Dogfish Head, 16 Mile, Mispillion, 3rd Wave, RAR, Old Dominion, Evolution, Blue Earl and Fins' Big Oyster. Franzia wine will also be available.

Also for the first time, advance online tickets ($10-$35) are ongoing.

Science Channel revives Punkin Chunkin tradition

They can be purchased at the event's upgraded website, punkinchunkin.com, created by Payton's own web design company. Punkin Chunkin is using the EventSprout online ticketing system, which is owned by Red Frog Events, creators of Dover's Firefly Music Festival. Advance online sales have already exceeded the event's goal, officials report.

Admission can also be purchased at the farm with cold, hard cash just like in the past.

As for the Chunk's big moment on national television, Science Channel's three-hour Punkin Chunkin special will be hosted by veteran "Punkin Chunkin" hosts and "Mythbusters" alums Kari Byron and Tory Belleci, along with Nerdist's Kyle Hill. It will air Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 26 at 8 pm. It will also be simulcast on Discovery Channel.

It's the first time in eight years that Science Channel is the lead broadcaster of the special, which dates back to 2002 when Discovery Channel aired its first Punkin Chunkin documentary.

Hill, the host of new Science Channel show MythBusters: The Search debuting in early 2017, has never been to Punkin Chunkin before. Heck, he's never been to Delaware before. But the Nerdist science editor has done his research on the event and is ready to take in all in.

"Oh, I'll be there the whole time," says the Los Angeles-based Hill, 27, who first heard of Punkin Chunkin through previous Science and Discover Channel specials. "I remembered thinking to myself, 'Why are these people doing this?' But once I saw them doing it, [I realized], 'Hey, they are doing what they love and coming together as a community with their weird and wonderful machines.

"I get it -- it's the feeling of making something awesome for yourself, by yourself and competing."

Payton says the Science Channel not only has exclusive broadcast rights, but it is also the event's lead sponsor. Other major sponsors include MSP Equipment Rentals, Delmarva Broadcasting Company and Wheatley Ventures.

As new Punkin Chunkin president, the 38-year-old Payton, owner of Lewes-based web designers Techno Goober, represents new leadership for Punkin Chunkin, but he's no outsider.

Not only is he a former chunker himself dating back to 1993, but his children, parents and brother are all chunkers. "There will be three generations of Paytons on the field this weekend and one of them will be running the event," he beams.

Proceeds from the event will once again go to local charities. Since 2000, Punkin Chunkin has donated $1 million, officials say. The most recent chunk in 2013 raised about $100,000.

For its grand return, Punkin Chunkin has a one-year lease with Wheatley Farms with both sides waiting to see how the new look Chunk works out.

"Right now I can tell you everything is great and our relationship with the Wheatleys has never been better. But we've kept very close ties with our Dorchester County, Maryland families," he says, referring to other family farms across the state line that had been willing to host the event.

But for now, a strong wave of excitement for a Punkin Chunkin's return is blotting out its messy recent past.

"We want to show the world that we're back and ready to go," says Payton, who lives in Milton. "It's going to be one heck of a party."

Follow Ryan Cormier on Twitter: @ryancormier