When it comes to finding pumpkins, three gourds are better than one.

Patty Tamburrino, Pat Bozek and Bridget Kennedy won The Citizen's Great Pumpkin Hunt and will split the $500 prize.

The three Leslie B. Lehn Middle School teachers found the hidden pumpkin Wednesday afternoon in a hollowed-out tree at Sterling Nature Center.

Kennedy said that she started keeping the clues, which started running in The Citizen on Oct. 21, just for fun. But as the women started putting the puzzle together, they started to think they could solve the whole thing.

“When we got to the (nature center), we didn't even know what we were looking for,” Bozek said. “Everything was orange because of the fall colors. It seemed like a needle in a haystack.”

Bozek and Kennedy went to the nature center after school Wednesday, but not after all three had guessed elsewhere, including Fort Hill Cemetery and Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

“We definitely had a good time together. It was a lot of fun,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy and Tamburrino said they plan to use the prize money for Christmas gifts. Bozek's is already spent - she bought large candy bars for neighborhood trick-or-treaters.