Pumpkins in the Park

 

We thought it might be fun to walk over to Bird Park for their annual Pumpkins in the Park festivities the other night. It was crisp, cold and clear and the leaves crunched under our feet as we made our way along the busy sidewalk.

Local pumpkin carvers of all ages had gathered together to display their pumpkin art as luminaria along the park's many trails. There were probably over 100 pumpkins and the park was crowded with high-spirited families pulling kids in wagons and sipping hot cocoa and cider to fend off the cold.

This is a fierce competition with categories such as scariest, most unusual, most creative, funniest and most traditional. It was evident some people had taken this quite seriously and the results ranged from gory to exquisite.

The pumpkins were judged by guest pumpkin judges (not sure of their qualifications). Ribbons and prizes were awarded at the pumpkin podium. Our personal favorite was an intricately carved decorative leaf pattern that stole the show.

A storyteller was on hand telling scary ghost stories and there were games for the younger kids to play.

Though they did have a specific “Senior” category, we didn't enter. It seems to us that a “Senior” might be able to compete adequately in the other categories without a category specific to age. After all, we've been carving pumpkins much longer than the rest of the group. Costumes were encouraged, but we had left our sailor costumes on the boat, so we just went as old farts.