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

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