Kicker: One big pumpkin

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Well Myrna, do you know what time of year it is?

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: For everything pumpkin spice?

BUTLER: Close. Pumpkin farmers around the country are harvesting their gargantuan gourds and seeing how they measure up with the competition.

AUDIO: [PUMPKIN WEIGHT]

This east-coast farmer has set a new record for the heaviest pumpkin in New York state’s history. 2,554 pounds.

BROWN: Whoa. That’s one big pumpkin.

BUTLER: Yes it is. Turns out that the giant squash is also the new American record holder—beating a 2018 pumpkin from New Hampshire by 26 pounds.

Scott Andrusz, age 63, says it took months of hard work to grow the grand champion. Shading new growth, selective pruning, and regular pest prevention treatments. But the hardest part was keeping critters away from it—especially his farm cats. To them, it was a 25-hundred pound scratching post.

But perhaps they were just trying to get in on the fun, setting a new world record of their own. You see, if Andrusz—or his cats—cut a face into the great pumpkin, they could hang another certificate on their wall: for world’s biggest Jack o’ Lantern—which currently stands at only 2,350 pounds.

BROWN: Seems like you’d need a pretty big candle to light that thing up.

BUTLER: It’s The World and Everything in It.

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