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Someone call Charlie Brown because there's a great pumpkin at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center (KVCC) this weekend, and in fitting with the seasonal festivities, the garden gourd is being transformed into a work of art by a local sculptor.

"When they asked me, I jumped at the chance," said Joy Falls, a sculpture, ceramics and 3-D art instructor from Kenai Peninsula College, who for two days today has been carving the 319-pound pumpkin.

The pumpkin came from the Lord of the gourds, J.D. Megchelsen, of Nikiski. In 2006 he crushed the state record for the largest pumpkin with his 1,019-pounder.

"This is the second year he has brought one over for us, and this one has already been to the state fair, so its well traveled," said Laura Forbes, director of programs and exhibits at KVCC.

Falls got to visit the pumpkin while it was still at Megchelsen's patch, so she could start formulating ideas for how to best approach the project. Even with a plan though, the project was still a challenge, she said.

"The walls were 4 inches thick in some places, so I had to use a pruning saw to cut through the top of it," she said.

Stacked on pallets so it could be on display from a sturdy base, Falls said she also had a heck of time reaching into the deep pumpkin to scoop out the fleshy innards and seeds.

Carving the face wasn't any easier, and required more than a typical knife used to make smaller jack-o'-lanterns, according to Falls.

"I brought a bunch of ceramic and wood carving tools to work on it," she said.

Falls said whittling away at the pumpkin's wet flesh was also quite a bit different from the media she usually works with.

"It's not as forgiving as modeling with clay where you can add back to it," she said. "With this, once something is removed, it's off permanently."

Despite these minor hurdles, Falls said she was excited to work on such a giant gourd.

"I love carving pumpkins," she said. "I've already done one a few weeks ago with my granddaughter, but this is the first one I've done of this size."

Falls said she was equally excited to work on this particular pumpkin, due to its appearance. She explained a lot of giant pumpkins look more like half-deflated balloons, as they have succumbed to their own weight during growth. However, since this gourd was only a few hundred pounds in weight, it still looked round and "normal."

"This has a more traditional look compared to some of the really large ones," she said.

Falls will be continuing her carving work today and said she wouldn't reveal exactly what the finished product would look like, other than that it would be "something scary for the kids."

The public is invited to stop by and watch Falls complete her work today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The finished pumpkin will be on display Saturday from 10:45 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"On Saturday, the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center will also have a limited number of smaller pumpkins to give away on a first-come, first-served basis," Forbes said. "So people can come see her carving and then take home their own to work on."

For more information, call the KVCC at 283-1991.

Joseph Robertia can be reached at joseph.robertia@peninsulaclarion.com.