Anne Peltier/FOR THE POST Brenda Fuller, left, laughs Monday afternoon as her sister Barbara Bartlett looks at a gourd painted to look like a snake. The "snake" decorates the pumpkin display at the Weekleyville Pumpkin Farm in Guysville.

Tom Weekley never expected much out of his pumpkin patch two years ago, but his life was changed in 1996 when a 524-pound monster squash emerged from his crop.

The Weekleyville Family Pumpkin Farm, 21200 Chapman Road in Guysville, has been celebrating the fall season for more than seven years. The 524-pound pumpkin didn't win any world records, but it gave the Weekley farm a popularity that has been growing.

The difference between pumpkin and squash is quite evident to Tom Weekley.

"A squash will grow to be huge, but it is not a pumpkin. The pumpkins are the jack-o-lanterns that people are always carving up," he said. "People know our farm because of the fun things we do with our pumpkins."

For several years, the Weekleys have been carving the largest of their squash, heaving them up on the roof of their garage and lighting them so that people can see them from State Route 50.

The Weekleys even recall a time when their large squash was suspected of causing an accident off Chapin Road.

"I think the guy lost control of his car when he was trying to get a look at this huge thing on the roof," said Weekley's wife, Jennie.

Tom Weekley has been growing pumpkins since about 1990. He joined the Athens County Senior Fair Board and decided to start having a pumpkin show for the county. The show grew quite popular, and although the Weekleys weren't winning awards for size, the quality of their pumpkins was exceptional, he said.

Once during a family trip to Circleville, the Weekleys caught a pumpkin show, and Weekley saw his first monster squash.

"My dad told us that he had to have the seeds from that squash, so he pulled some strings and got them," oldest son Chuck Weekley, 21, said.

What Tom Weekley received in a handful grew into much more than he expected.

"I didn't know what this man was handing to me," Tom said, "but he handed the seeds to me like they were gold or something. I guess that was how the big ones started growing."

They loved carving the pumpkins, and Weekley's late mother started doing all sorts of crafts with them. One year, they had a pumpkin that lasted until the next April, and she dressed up the pumpkins for the different seasons.

"My personal favorite was the turkey for Thanksgiving," said Weekley.

All of the pumpkins and squash that grow on Weekleys' farm are grown naturally, he said.

"I think that nature's way is the best because we don't really have to work with it," he said.

Chuck Weekley's thoughts seemed to differ.

"Mom and Dad were always busy with their jobs, and my brother, Jesse, and I would always end up having to harvest the pumpkins. It was really hard loading up 40 and 50-pound pumpkins in a huge wagon with two people," Chuck Weekley said.

But the family members were compensated for the work they did, he said.

"Everybody pitches in, and we all profit from the business," Chuck Weekley said.

This year they downsized the pumpkin crop because the Weekleys had to plow one of the larger fields to build a new house.

While the Weekleys still have a large crop from other fields in both Athens and Meigs Counties, they are haunted by the images of their Great Pumpkin of years past.