Bottorf sets record, twice

Longtime pumpkin grower Richard Bottorf, who lives three miles north of Republic, had a red letter day at this year’s Pumpkin Daze held last Saturday in downtown Republic. Bottorf’s first pumpkin, at right, set a new Missouri state record weighing in at 1,677 pounds. That record didn’t stand long though, as his next pumpkin shattered that total, tipping the scales at 1,798 pounds, surpassing his minutes-old record by more than 100 pounds. Bottorf is no stranger to record setting pumpkins. In 2017, he set a state record with a 1,563 pound pumpkin.