On Halloween night, children and adults lined up to enter St. Robert's auditorium in San Bruno with the hope of seeing the "Great Pumpkin of San Bruno."

After seeing San Bruno resident Carol Bonner's 421-pound monstrosity just inside the door, all intrigued and disbelieving spectators reached over and touched the pumpkin.

"The pumpkin is huge," said Mike Salvado, who is St. Robert's Annual Halloween Party Co-Chairperson. "It's fantastic that the kids can come and see the 'Great Pumpkin of San Bruno' at this year's party."

Minutes later, children in halloween attire huddled around the pumpkin while parents took their picture.

"Everyone loved the pumpkin," Salvado said. "[The Pumpkin] was an incredible sight."

With help from Harry Ehara of San Mateo, a friend and gardener, Bonner began growing the pumpkin back in May.

"I was told it needed to be planted under the light of a new moon, but on the night we put the seeds in the ground, it was raining," Bonner said. "It was a slow start, but things took off when the pumpkin started growing two to four inches-a-day for the next five months."

"I don't know who was more nervous, me or Carol," Ehara said. "I thought she would have a good chance to place in the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival."

"We'd water the pumpkin 30 minutes a day and fertilized it twice a week. We spent a lot of our time tending to the pumpkin," Bonner said. "But, we knew there would come a day to cut it from the 60-foot vine."

On October 13, six musclemen wrestled the orange, 123-inch round gourd off the ground. They then squeezed it through the gate and hoisted onto the back of a pick-up truck.

The next day, a forklift would take the pumpkin off the truck during the official weigh-in at the International Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival.

"We came in fourth place for San Mateo County," Bonner said. "I'd grown the biggest pumpkin in the county, north of Redwood City and Half Moon Bay."

"For an amaturer, I'm happy with the results. I don't think that I could ever beat Portola Valley or Menlo Atherton because they have better growing conditions."

Three pumpkins in the county placed in front of Bonner, each were over 200 pounds heavier. The over-all winner was from Oregon and the runner-up was from San Jose, both tipping the scales at over 800 pounds.

"I had the 19th largest over-all pumpkin in the western states, and I beat my gardener," Bonner boasted.

Now, with the above-ground planter box stagnent and empty, Bonner ponders if she's going to grow another giant pumpkin.

"I'm going to do it," she said. "I'm going to harvest the seeds from this pumpkin and try it again next year."

And the story continues...
— Sophmore Jinx
— 1998's Rapsody