Home-grown pumpkins decorate home for Halloween, with a special ‘go!’ gourd for Dodgers

Doug Parker knelt, tools in hand, as he burrowed a hole in one of his large pumpkins in the front yard of his Sierra Madre home.

The 400-pound gourd was being converted into a stove complete with a rotating spit, chimney and plastic skulls rotating above lights to simulate flames. “You Ghost them We’ll Roast them” was carved in large letters.

For Parker and his wife Heather, it was another long day of preparing their home to delight trick-or-treaters and visitors with a festive Halloween display featuring the giant pumpkins they grow.

For almost 40 years, 25 of which they have grown their own pumpkins, the Parkers have decorated for Halloween, stoking the satisfaction of seeing the joy it brings to children.

Doug says: “Everybody seems to love this, you know, especially the kids. A lot of kids have never seen pumpkins this big, and so it blows their mind. And I think people appreciate kind of the, you know, the homegrown old style, not inflatables, you know, go to Home Depot and buy the 20-foot-tall statue.”

This year, as well as the last, the 72-year-old retired Edison employee has decorated an enormous pumpkin in honor of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series run.

Doug admits that he is not a rabid baseball fan, but his wife is a Dodgers booster, hence the giant orange tribute to the boys in blue. The 500-pound pumpkin was carved with baseball-style stitching and the words “Dodgers X2,” a reference to the team’s chance to win two consecutive World Series.

Preparation for Parker’s elaborate display begins as early as April, when the pumpkins are planted, and culminates with several 16-hour days of work before Halloween.

The finished front yard features up to 100 pumpkins, many skeletons, a giant spider, and other spooky displays to entertain all who visit.

If you would like to see the Parkers’ decorated home, it is located at 145 East Alegria Ave in Sierra Madre.