PRATTSBURGH – Putnam County’s longest-serving executive, Bob Bondi, who not only spent four terms in office as county executive but also 11 years on the Putnam Legislature, two as chair, while volunteering around-the-clock with the Mahopac Fire Department, is now a champion pumpkin grower.
After retiring from county government on December 31, 2010, Bondi and his family moved to a 350-acre farm in the Steuben County hamlet of Prattsburgh.
Bondi told Mid-Hudson News on Monday that his farm has produced one of the largest pumpkins in the region — a giant gourd measuring 95 inches in circumference. “We needed our skid steer to lift it and position it at the bed and breakfast,” he said.
Bondi and his wife, Marylou, have been running a bed and breakfast in the upstate community of 1,985 residents since his retirement.
Bondi said the pumpkin mature was amazing. “We watched the growth take place and did not add any fertilizer and only watered it twice during the dry days of summer. We are hoping to save some of the seeds in the hopes that they will produce an even larger pumpkin next year,” he said.
Bondi called farm life rugged but most enjoyable. “Matthew, my youngest son, does all the milking using a swing eight parlor and I do the ‘tractoring’ and help out in the fields,” he added.
Bondi said he and his wife “miss Putnam County and all the good people we used to be with each day.”
During Bondi’s tenure, he oversaw major projects that included Preservation of Tilly Foster Farm in Brewster, transforming it into a farm, education center, and culinary arts destination. Bondi was also instrumental in the development of the Putnam County Golf Course in Mahopac.
In 2024, he was honored with a plaque at the county office building in Carmel for over 30 years of public service, praised for his leadership through economic challenges and his collaborative approach to government.
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