Then & Now: The Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall has been enthralling visitors since 1995

Gemma Pollice
Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024 10:00 a.m. | Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024 10:00 a.m.

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Gemma Pollice | TribLive

Joel Keefer, 73, poses Oct. 26 in front of the 2024 Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall with his dog, Goldie, a 6-year-old coconut Labrador retriever rescued from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. The cat’s whiskers are made from grasses plucked from the Route 28 roadside.

Gemma Pollice | TribLive

This year’s 1,777-pound pumpkin casts a big shadow in Aspinwall.

Courtesy of Chelsea Cooper

Grant Cooper, 12, helped his grandfather, Joel Keefer, carve the Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall on Oct. 25. He was tasked with cleaning out the monstrous gourd’s insides.

Courtesy of Sherri Rizza

Victoria Rizza, then 8 months, poses with the first Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall in 1995.

Courtesy of Chelsea Cooper

Frankenstein: One of Joel Keefer’s Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall designs.

Courtesy of Chelsea Cooper

Minion: One of Joel Keefer’s Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall designs.

Courtesy of Chelsea Cooper

Yoda: One of Joel Keefer’s Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall designs.

Courtesy of Chelsea Cooper

Grant Cooper poses with Spider-Man, one of his grandfather’s previous Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall designs.

Courtesy of Chelsea Cooper

Grant Cooper poses with Olaf, one of his grandfather’s previous Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall designs.

Courtesy of Chelsea Cooper

The Picasso: One of Joel Keefer’s Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall designs.

Courtesy of Chelsea Cooper

The Keefers have received many thank-yous over the years for using their giant pumpkin to collect donations for the Salvation Army and WTAE-TV’s Project Bundle-Up.

Courtesy of Chelsea Cooper

Wyllie Keefer and her grandson, Grant Cooper, collect seeds from a previous Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall. The seeds are returned each year to the original grower.

Courtesy of Chelsea Cooper

Joel Keefer talks about his Giant Pumpkin of Aspinwall during a previous WTAE-TV spot.

Gemma Pollice | TribLive

This year’s pumpkin, weighing 1,777 pounds, was grown by a couple from Dillner, Pa.

For more than 25 years, residents of Aspinwall and the surrounding areas have been flocking to the zero block of Fourth Street to see the latest creation of the “Great Pumpkin of Aspinwall.”

Joel Keefer, 73, has been carving oversized pumpkins since the mid-1990s.

What started as a 450-pound surprise for his wife, Wyllie, also 73, has turned into a worldwide sensation and a big-time fundraiser.

His pumpkins have appeared in “Woman’s World” magazine and on the Persian News Network.

Thirteen years ago, the Keefers decided to turn the pumpkin’s fame into fortune for WTAE’s Project Bundle-Up. Project Bundle-Up provides new winter outerwear for area children and senior citizens in need.

Since 2010, visits to the pumpkin have raised more than $125,000 — $13,000 of which was collected in 2023 alone.

Each year, the pumpkin is purchased by the Keelen Bros. Tree Service, a business founded by Joel and now run by his brother, Mark, from Parks Nursery in Canfield, Ohio. Keelen Bros. also matches the first $500 in donations.

On Oct. 25, with help from his grandson, Grant Cooper, 12, Keefer transformed this year’s 1,777-pound pumpkin into the face of a cat — complete with whiskers made from grasses found along Route 28 near RIDC Park.

Grant crawled inside the pumpkin and scraped out its insides.

As for the seeds, the Keefers return them to the nursery in Canfield, where they are given to the original grower in the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers association in an attempt to produce giant pumpkins for generations to come.

According to Keefer, about 600 trick-or-treaters visit his pumpkin each year.

The pumpkin will be on display for as long as possible, but tax-deductible donations end Dec. 5.

Cash and checks made out to Project Bundle-Up can be deposited in the Keefers’ mail slot at their home at 34 Fourth St., Aspinwall, PA 15215, or mailed to their home. Donations also can be made online at salvationarmywpa.org/aspinwallpumpkin.

Have an old photo to share for Then & Now? Email Tawnya Panizzi at tpanizzi@triblive.com.