Aurora firefighter smashes Colorado pumpkin record with one-ton gourd

An Aurora firefighter’s prodigious pumpkin was recognized as the heaviest ever grown in the state of Colorado on Saturday, topping the list at more than a ton.

The lord among gourds — named Winifred Sanderson after the character of the same name from the 1993 film “Hocus Pocus” — weighed in at 2,083 pounds when it hit the scale at the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off held Saturday at Nick’s Garden Center in Aurora.

Fire medic Brad Bledsoe said 2024 marks his family’s third year growing competition-sized pumpkins on their property in Fort Collins.

The former plant nursery employee described carefully managing the growing process, from measuring the nutrients present in the soil, to researching the genetics of the Atlantic giant pumpkin seed used, to watering his plant every day.

“It’s a whole can of worms,” Bledsoe said.

He said his friend brought a skid steer to help load the pumpkin onto a trailer that Bledsoe used to haul Winifred Sanderson from Fort Collins to Aurora.

“It was my favorite thing to do, was driving with the pumpkin and seeing people’s faces light up,” he said. “You can see the curiosity, like people asking if it’s even real and asking if they can take pictures with it.”

Aurora Fire Rescue announced in a news release and Nick’s Garden Center confirmed that the pumpkin took first prize at the weigh-in organized by The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth.