DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

  A growing number of people in Berkshire County and the surrounding areas have been visiting their back yards at the crack of dawn and in the dark of night on a regular basis. Some wear headlamps.  Some bring blanketsThey range in age from kindergarteners to grandfathers. And they're all after one thing: giant pumpkins.   Phil Daignault of Hinsdale started down the garden path with just a seed of an idea and a question, "Can I actually do it?" He needed to know, and now his interest has produced a source of fascination for his whole family.    Some giant-pumpkin growers spend thousands of dollars and some spend a few hundred on what many refer to as their obsession. Its roots may have begun in Canada, with a man named Howard Dill, and the craze appears to have spread from Canada to Australia and almost every continent in between over the past 20 years.    In 1996, Berkshire County growers formed their own self-help group. Dues are $10 a y...

      San Diego Comic-Con International , also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con , was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans. It is traditionally a four-day event (Thursday through Sunday — though a three-hour preview night on Wednesday is open to professionals, exhibitors, and some guests pre-registered for all four days) held during the summer in San Diego , California , United States , at the San Diego Convention Center . Comic-Con is both the name of the annual event and the common name of the organization.    Comic-Con International also produces two other conventions, WonderCon and the Alternative Press Expo (APE), both held in San Francisco, California . Since 1974, Comic-Con has bestowed its annual Inkpot Award to guests and persons of interest in the industries of...