ALBANY, Ohio — Jim Llewellyn of Albany has grown gourds for years. Last year, he grew pumpkins in the 100- to 200-pound range without doing anything special.
This year, he went bigger. It almost didn’t happen: Just as the season was beginning, Llewellyn broke his ankle.
“After I broke my ankle, I thought it wouldn’t be possible,” Llewellyn said.
However, his community in Albany came together to help Llewellyn reach his goal. This included his friends, family, fellow firefighters at the Albany Area Volunteer Fire Department, and his wife, Amy.
“This never would have gotten this big without [them],” he said.
How big? A 938-pound behemoth the Llewellyns named Mary.
In spite of Mary’s impressive size, she didn’t even break the top 10 in the Barnesville Pumpkin Festival. She missed the ranking by just 30 pounds. (The first place prize winner was nearly 1,500 pounds bigger.)
Nevertheless, the Llewellyns traveled to locations through Southeast Ohio to put Mary in the spotlight. Her most recent public appearance was at last weekend’s Albany Fall Festival.
After festival season wraps up, Llewellyn hopes to send Mary off with an array of fireworks. Then, after Thanksgiving, the Llewellyns will put Mary’s seeds up for sale, for those who would like to try their hand at growing their own giant pumpkin.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the reasons the Llewllyns will sell their pumpkin seeds.
