"You'll see me kiss all my pumpkins," Starr told reporters, after winning $9,144 in prize money for the 1,524 lb. pumpkin. "It kind of sounds corny, but you develop a bond with your pumpkins. ... They're almost your friends."
Starr's gourd was just 11 pounds short of the California record. The world record pumpkin is a 1,689-pound squash grown by Joe Jutras of Rhode Island.