More than 50 children of Ohio University's faculty and staff carved, painted and glittered autumnal art Saturday at Pumpkinfest held in the Christ the King Parish Center, 75 Stewart St.
Brendan Sano, 7, sawed into his pumpkin, focusing on winning the award for scariest pumpkin.
I've been practicing
he said.
Eli Kennedy, 4, dressed as a red Power Ranger, whipped mini-pumpkins at empty orange two-liter soda bottles arranged like bowling pins.
Two-year-old twins Tanner and Tommy Vale sat with their mother April, their faces flecked with yellow pumpkin and their hands stained with green paint.
We've always had more people than we can hold said organizer Johnna Sprockett, adding that Pumpkinfest is more than five-years-old.
The event, organized and sponsored by OU's WellWorks, included games, snacks, goody-bags and Halloween music. Those in attendance brought their own pumpkins and carving knives, and WellWorks provided paint, glue, stickers and copious amounts of glitter.
Melinda Fulk and her daughter Cassandra attended last year's Pumpkinfest and made it a point to return this year.
Look at that face Melinda said as Cassandra, smiling wide, smeared purple paint over her pumpkin. That's why we brought her back.
Parents tapped into their inner-child too. The winner of the biggest pumpkin went to Mark Reinhardt and family. Reinhardt rolled up his sleeves and dug elbow-deep into his Frankenstein-like 50-pounder.
This is a childhood-memory thing for me
Reinhardt said. But I think it's also compensation for having the smallest pumpkin when I was a child.
Reinhardt said he hopes to bring a 300-pound pumpkin to next year's Pumpkinfest; his children, Cecilia and Maggie, had eyes wide with excitement.
We bring (Cecilia and Maggie) here every year mostly because you can scoop the pumpkin guts out somewhere else besides the kitchen
said Reinhardt's wife Amy.
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Jackie Rhodes helps her son Kristopher, 6, draw on a pumpkin where they will cut out pieces to make a jack-o-lantern at the annual pumpkin fest at the Christ the King University Parish on Saturday. Wellworks, a community wellness group, sponsored the pump
