You’ll recall that Linus Van Pelt described his pumpkin patch as exhibiting “nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.” Of course, he still didn’t get a visit from the Great Pumpkin, despite sitting outside all night in what was a clear case of child endangerment.
So obviously there was a more sincere pumpkin patch out there, and if we had to guess we’re thinking it just might belong to Woody Lancaster. The 80-year-old Topsfield resident — he and the Topsfield Fair are practically neighbors — has been growing oversized pumpkins for 31 years, and prior to this year had twice won the fair’s annual pumpkin weigh-off. (He’s also the regional representative to the international Great Pumpkin Commonwealth organization — take that, Linus.)
Well, after this year, you can up Lancaster’s winning tally to three: He took home this year’s honor on Friday, and broke a state record in the process, with his gourd weighing in at a whopping 2,598 pounds.
Given that Lancaster told Boston.com that this year’s pumpkin would likely be his last — it’s a lot of work to grow a pumpkin that big, and he’s exhausted — it seems only fitting that he’d go out with those bragging rights. Not to mention the $10,000 in prize money.