BIG DOINGS IN THE OTHER BROTHER'S HOMETOWN:

Oh my gourd, that's a pumpkin (HUNTER McGEE, October 27, 2002, NH Sunday News)

Cancer patient Charles Houghton didn't worry about his disease but cultivated a positive outlook over the summer while he grew a pumpkin for the ages.

Houghton, who suffers from bladder cancer, grows pumpkins in his spare time from his New Boston garden.

He was lying in an Elliot Hospital bed in Manchester on Oct. 5, days after cancer surgery, when his wife, Kathleen, phoned to tell him the pumpkin he grew had won the Topsfield, Mass., Fair contest. The fair represents the biggest pumpkin-growing competition in New England.

"With all the screaming I couldn't hear her at first," Houghton said of the call that came from the fair where about 700 people were attending. "I figured it would weigh about 1,300 (pounds), then she said 1,337 (pounds) - I was in a daze . . ."

Not only did the giant gourd win the fair, at 1,337.6 pounds, but it captured the unofficial world record, Houghton said. His family members have started the process to have the winning entry listed in the Guinness World Records book. The official recordholder weighed about 1,262 pounds and was grown in Washington State, Houghton said.

But in less joyful news:
Keene fails to smash pumpkin record (STEPHEN SEITZ, October 27, 2002, NH Sunday News)

Despite valiant efforts in a rain-filled day, organizers of Keene's annual pumpkin festival said they failed to break the record yesterday for the most pumpkins gathered in one location.

When the final pumpkin was counted, Keene had 18,882 pumpkins on display last night. The record was 23,727 pumpkins gathered together two years ago.

Officials estimated that between 25,000 and 30,000 people came to Keene to participate in the festival, despite the rain.

Ah, Red State fun... Posted by Orrin Judd at October 27, 2002 7:25 AM