Forget about sitting in a pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear.

A 769-pound pumpkin beast was spotted at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort around October for the resort’s Halloween celebration. Sadly, "Gourdzilla" — as he was dubbed by Hilton guests — is now just as elusive as the Great Pumpkin that "Peanuts" comic strip character Linus van Pelt faithfully waited for every year.

Where is "Gourdy?"

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, look no further than executive chef Jeffrey Vigilla’s kitchen, where the orange giant is being transformed into 500 pies and vats of pumpkin porridge and roasted puree.

"I scoured the U.S. West Coast for the biggest pumpkin that I could find to ship to Hawaii," Vigilla said. "This one is so big that we had to move it with a pallet jack."

Getting the pumpkin to Hawaii in a shipping container was not an easy feat, he said.

"It’s a live pumpkin so it had some scars and bruising," Vigilla said. "We covered them with some leaves. People didn’t seem to notice, they were lining up to take pictures before we even got the pumpkin display up."

While the giant pumpkin got plenty of Halloween press and even sparked a "Save Gourdy" campaign on Facebook, in the end it couldn’t escape Vigilla’s carving knife. It took Vigilla and four other staff members about two hours to slice up the vibrant fruit (yes, botanists say pumpkins are fruits because their consumable flesh comes from the section of the plant that contains the seeds).

"This pumpkin is the biggest one that we’ve ever had at the resort," Vigilla said as he stepped away from butchering the beast to wipe sweat off his brow.

Since most pie pumpkins average 8 to 10 pounds and anything over 25 pounds is considered a giant variety, Gourdy was a show-stopper. Still, the huge orb didn’t even come close to the Guinness Book of World Records’ heaviest pumpkin, which earned the record in September 2012 when it weighed in at 2,009 pounds at the New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Topsfield Fair in Topsfield, Mass.

Still, Gourdy was more than large enough for the resort to meet its Thanksgiving culinary requirements. On Thanksgiving Day, the pumpkin will produce some 3,000 slices of pie for resort guests and employees.

"We’ll have plenty of pumpkin dishes at the Rainbow Lanai and at our luau," Vigilla said. "All of the chefs at our (restaurants) are working to come up with pumpkin-based recipes."

But perhaps none of the culinary creations will be as heartwarming as the 60 pies that are being reserved for the dinner table at the Institute for Human Services, which feeds and shelters Oahu’s homeless. Vigilla and his team also will send along 250 pounds of turkey, 11 gallons of gravy, 175 pounds each of stuffing and rice, 80 pounds of mixed vegetables, 11 gallons of cranberry sauce, and 22 gallons of butternut squash soup.

This is the 19th year that Hilton employees have donated food and time to IHS. As many as 40 employees will plan the event, recruit volunteers, deliver tables, help with decorations, provide entertainment and supply support for cleanup.

The IHS Thanksgiving has grown so popular that Hilton has had to turn employee volunteers away, said Eileen Nepomuceno, assistant director of human resources for Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Hotel volunteers at the event have ranged from the general manager to line employees,Nepomuceno said.

"Some of our team members bring their children to help. I’ve seen children that have been as young as 10 when they started and are now 18 or older and still coming back. They look forward to coming out and serving as a family," she said.

Hilton makes sure that homeless guests get sit-down service at cloth-covered tables covered with holiday decorations.

"We go in with the idea of being hospitable. We want to serve them and create an experience that they can warmly remember," Nepomuceno said. "It’s the conversation and caring that makes them feel special. We are sharing our aloha."