SYCAMORE – Local resident Daniel Bautista’s giant spider pumpkin won the acclaimed “Pick of the Patch” award from a record number of entries in the annual Pumpkin Festival contest.

The Sycamore Lions Club saw 1,146 entries in the 51st pumpkin display on the courthouse lawn in downtown Sycamore. Awards were issued Thursday morning in more than 30 categories, most delineated by age group, and the “Pick of the Patch” winner was chosen among the first-place winners in the other categories.

Ed Kuhn, who chaired the pumpkin contest with fellow Lions Club member, Tom Moline, figures the contest only topped 1,000 entries once before in its history. The club cut off entries Wednesday evening, and the its three vice presidents were out early Thursday judging.