Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Readiness group collecting items for soldiers at Pumpkinfest Oct. 25

A booth will be set up by the National Guard Family Readiness Group at the Second Annual Great Pumpkinfest, Sat. Oct. 25.

Those manning this booth will be collecting items soldiers may need when they arrive in Iraq. The local guard unit has received its orders and will be shipped overseas soon (see related story).

The items will be put into care packages for the men. Items needed include eye drops, sun block, disposable cameras, lip balm, polarized sunglasses (nothing reflective), calling cards, hard candies, face cleansing pads and baby wipes (unscented), vitamins, foot powder, hygiene products (also unscented), small canned goods, reading material and anything that might remind them of home.

For more information, contact the Tom B. Lee National Guard Armory at 887-2206.

This was discussed at a recent meeting of C.H.I.C.S. (Citizens Helping Improve Community Standing), held Monday, Sept. 29. The group worked to finalize plans for the Pumpkinfest.

They approved the T-shirt color, making minor changes in the design. Shirts from last year's festival will be sold at a reduced cost at this year's event.

A beautiful baby event will be held again this year, as will the pet and children costume contest.

Those wanting to enter their baby in the competition should have a photo no larger than 5X7 available to be placed on the jars. The infant with the most money in their jar will be declared the winner.

There will be two divisions of this. One if for babies 0-18 months, and the other for those 19-36 months old.

Another new event this year will be the "jail and bail". In this event, people can have others arrested, with the "criminal" having to raise money to make bail and get out of jail.

The festival's schedule of events is as follows:

7-9 a.m.  Pumpkin pancake breakfast at the Whistlin' Gopher;

9 a.m.  check in time for carved and decorated pumpkins;

10 a.m.  judging for carved and decorated pumpkins; check-in time for pumpkin cooking contest (at the Whistlin' Gopher);

10:30 a.m.  judging for pumpkin cooking contest

11 a.m.  judging for Halloween pet parade and children's costumes.

11:30 a.m.  children's costume judging;

1:30 p.m.  haul your hag race (best dressed hag contest, spirit stick competition) in front of Post Office;

3 p.m.  pumpkin princess pageant;

3:30-4 p.m.  announcement of winners; and

4-5 p.m.  dismantling of booths and cleanup.

The haul your hag race generated a bit of controversy, as a local woman was offended by the event's title, calling it derogatory toward women.

The C.H.I.C.S. addressed the letter to the editor written, and decided to leave the competition as it is, with no changes.

Karen Richards, C.H.I.C.S. president, said the idea wasn't to upset anyone, but to have fun at Halloween.

Rules for the event require two people, one male and one female. The woman is to be dressed in her best witch/hag costume, while the man does not have to be in costume. There is a $5 entry fee for this event.

The contestants can bring their own cheering section, which will compete for the spirit stick. The spirit stick will be passed on from year to year, while the top three finishers get trophies and the best dressed witch or hag receives a plaque.

The Prescott Athletic Booster Club will set up the Wolf Wagon and sell Curley Wolf paraphernalia, with others who had booths last year being contacted to see if they want them again this year.

The festival also includes a house and business decorating contest. The homes must be within the city limits and can be decorated in either a traditional fall theme or a Halloween theme. However, pumpkins must be part of the decoration, regardless which theme is used.

All entry forms must be completed and turned in to either Prescott Flowers or the Whistlin' Gopher by Wednesday, Oct. 22. Judging will be done Friday, Oct. 24, with the winners announced at the festival.

Winners in the house and business decorating contest will receive a plaque.

For the pumpkin cooking contest, there are two divisions, sweet and non-sweet. There are also two categories for junior and senior cooks. All recipes used must contain at least 1/4 cup of pumpkin.

There will be three age divisions for the pumpkin carving contest. Those are: 7-11; 12-17; and 18-adult.

Any style carving can be done as long as it's in good taste. The carved pumpkins must be delivered to Pumpkin Alley (by the Whistlin' Gopher) by 9 a.m. Saturday where they will be logged in. The top three carvings in each division will receive ribbons.

The Prescott Rotary Club will be sponsoring an archery competition, where people try to break a balloon using a bow and arrow.

There will also be a raffle for dinner for two at the Garden Getaway. Tickets for this are $2 each, or three for $5.

Just for grins, the C.H.I.C.S. will have a jar filled with candy corn. The person who guesses how many pieces of candy are in the jar will win a prize.

The Pumpkinfest will be held on Elm Street in downtown Prescott Saturday, Oct. 25. For more information, contact Karen Richards at 887-1539, or Heidi Richards at 887-8214.