Harold Keyser, head of the University of Hawai'i College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources in Maui County, is coordinator of the fair's Horticulture Exhibit, sponsored by the UH Cooperative Extension Service and the Maui County Farm Bureau. He said Bill is probably the largest pumpkin ever entered in the competition. "I haven't seen anything like a 500-pounder," he said.

Keyser said he's eager to see the specimen, "as long as I don't have to lift it onto the table."

The annual fair is the biggest event on Maui, drawing a crowd of 100,000 during its four-day run. Although food booths, the E.K. Fernandez midway and top Hawaiian entertainment have grabbed the spotlight in recent years, the fair's roots are in the horticulture and homemaker exhibits showcasing the work of youngsters and adults.

The growing of gargantuan fruits and vegetables has a devoted international following, and Burkert and Palad, both 35, said they're hooked on the hobby. "After you grow your first one, you get bitten by the bug. You want to grow them even bigger and bigger," Burkert said.

Burkert consoled himself by entering a 119-pound watermelon at the fair, and was determined to bounce back this year, choosing a better location, although he had no idea the pumpkins would get so big.

Bill and its slightly smaller companion, Myrtle, are of the Atlantic giant variety, grown from seeds from a 2003 Oregon pumpkin that weighed a world-record 1,385 pounds. Burkert planted the seeds May 15 in a patch of rich Kula dirt at the 4,000-foot elevation of Haleakala. At one point, the pumpkins were growing at a rate of 19 pounds a day.

Last Thursday Bill weighed approximately 480 pounds and was expected to top 500 pounds at harvest; Myrtle was a more petite 370 pounds.

Burkert ticked off what he said are the three keys to successful pumpkin growing: lots of sun, proper fertilizer and soil amendments such as compost and calcium, and good breeding. Another trick is timing the growth so the pumpkins are harvested at their peak.

The giant pumpkins aren't meant for eating, but they do make nice autumn decorations. Burkert said he had one that lasted off the vine past Christmas. The couple are growing another variety of smaller, more vividly colored pumpkins that they plan to use for Halloween jack-o'-lanterns.

The two work for competing liquor distributors, and Palad said toiling in the pumpkin patch in the cool, quiet Upcountry air is a stress-reliever.

"We come up here and it's just like heaven," she said.

Burkert has lined up five guys to help roll Bill onto a tarp he ordered that is specially designed for transporting heavyweight fruits and vegetables, but he's still not sure about getting a truck down the steep slope to the field and lifting the pumpkin into the truck bed.

Palad said they are looking forward to their reward for the labor of love. "When it comes fair time in War Memorial Gym, you see people and they just have to touch it and knock on it. Just the reaction, that is what we get a kick out of," she said.