Pumpkin could make 600 pies

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. – A retired Washington firefighter won the annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off on Monday, presenting a gigantic pumpkin weighing 1,229 pounds.

Joel Holland said the pumpkin could make roughly 600 pumpkin pies but instead will be displayed in a parade in Half Moon Bay this weekend, then will be carved into a jack-o’-lantern for Halloween.

“Maybe we’ll set a record for the size of a pumpkin pie next,” said Holland, who has won the competition five years in a row. He won last year with a pumpkin that weighed exactly the same.

Holland’s pumpkin had to be removed from the back of a pickup truck with a crane.

Holland, 56, said he was worried when this year’s contest began because another pumpkin was bigger dimensionally than his entry.

He attributed his success to two decades of pumpkin-growing experience and the favorable climate at his Puyallup, Wash., home.