Jack-o -Lantern record

BOSTON - Bathed in the orange glow of illuminated "Jack-o'-lanterns," Boston smashed a world record on Saturday when thousands of volunteers lit the largest number of Halloween pumpkins ever assembled in one place.

"We have just busted past 29,000 lit pumpkins, this is so wow," shouted John Jacobs, whose Boston-based T-shirt company Life is good sponsored the extravaganza that turned Boston's historic Common into fields of blazing orange orbs.

Volunteers started lining up the pumpkins donated by local farms on Wednesday. The pumpkins were then carved out and lit from the inside with candles. By Saturday evening, dozens of latecomers were still rushing to let accountants number their gourds and add them to the final tally, which was 30,128 !

Just how long Boston's record will hold however won't be clear for another few hours, Jacobs said.

Keene, New Hampshire, a city northwest of Boston, has held the record with 28,952 lighted pumpkins since 2003 and vowed to defend its title by illuminating 30,000 this year.

But Bostonians were just as determined.

"We are going to try our best to beat them this year," said Janet Sullivan as she placed candles into pumpkins she brought and wedged them into a line snaking along a paved walkway.

Last year, the organizers counted 24,500 pumpkins on Boston's Common.

Boston's event raised about $250,000 for Camp Sunshine in Maine, which provides retreats for children with life-threatening illnesses.