Florida's largest pumpkin finds home in Tampa right before Halloween

TAMPA, Fla. - A prize-worthy pumpkin has a new home in Tampa just in time for Halloween, and it’s the largest pumpkin in Florida.

Barry Lawrance, the owner of Bearss Groves farmer’s market on Lake Magdalene Boulevard, said he bought the 969-pound gourd at auction in Michigan. He set up a display and put the pumpkin in place using a tractor on Wednesday.

"The bigger they get, the more misshapen they get and so I kind of look for size and weight but also shape and look, like this one’s got a really cool stem. It just looks really sharp," said Lawrance.

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It’s captured attention of some important young judges.

"It’s huge, and it weighs like 900 something pounds," said 8-year-old Dax D’Leon who also shared what he likes about pumpkins. "They’re orange, and one of my favorites is orange."

The children visiting the market to look at the pumpkin said they wanted to take the pumpkin home with them, but they walked through the aisles and chose more manageable sizes instead

"It’s so big. I like it," said 5-year-old Guyel Alexander, who grabbed two small pumpkins for his family’s home. "I’m going to put them in the front door. I’m going to paint them and put stickers on them."

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Fall and Halloween just wouldn’t be the same without a trip to the pumpkin patch.

"We’ve been coming here for 30 years. My mom used to bring us here when we were kids to Bearss Groves, so this is like a family staple," said Janet D’Leon, Dax’s mother and a Tampa resident.

It’s not just a tradition for some Tampa families. The giant pumpkin is also a chance to create memories.

"I think the coolest part was there was a big of younger kids here. I was bringing the pumpkin around on a tractor and the second we came around the corner it was screaming, jumping up and down, smiles," said Lawrance. 

He said a group of children from Steps to Maturity, an Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County provider, were the first to experience Florida’s largest pumpkin.

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"Every year I try and top it or make a different display," he said, adding that his love for pumpkins also started young. "When I was a kid, we used to go to Alessi’s Bakery, and they had one there when I was a kid. And so ever since then, I’ve always wanted a big pumpkin."

Lawrance said this year’s pumpkin comes close to the largest they’ve ever had on display. He said after the season ends, the giant pumpkin will be carted off to farm for the chickens or the cows to eat.