HALF MOON BAY, Calif. – Nick Kennedy is married with two kids under age 8 and a job as a project manager for a San Francisco tech firm, yet he spends countless hours growing enormous pumpkins for competitions, to the point of sometimes tending his patch until midnight.
“It’s definitely a full-time job,’’ says Kennedy, 37. “It’s like raising a family.’’
That dedication paid off last year when Kennedy and his growing partner Ron Root set a California record with a 2,497-pound behemoth at the Half Moon Bay World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off , which returns Monday as the prelude to the town’s popular art and pumpkin festival.
The contest, one of dozens across the U.S. , is billed as the Super Bowl of such events and draws competitors from throughout the West Coast states, partly because of the industry-leading prize money offered by title sponsor Safeway supermarkets: $9 per pound for the winning gourd or $30,000 for a world record. Kennedy and Root collected $4,000 in finishing second last year.