Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Plans in place for 3rd Annual PumpkinFest

Several streets in downtown Prescott are sporting banners for the Third Annual Pumpkin Festival.

The festival is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 30, on Elm Street. This venue will be blocked off during the day as it is a street event. It is sponsored by CHICS (Citizens Helping Improve Community Standing), with all money raised being given to two high school seniors in the form of scholarships at the end of the academic year.

The day will kick off with breakfast available at the Flamingo Grill. This year's menu will be a traditional breakfast featuring eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy.

Booth spaces for the festival are going fast and anyone interested in renting one needing to do so as soon as possible.

Rita Shaw, who's in charge of the booths, said the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce will have a booth featuring Halloween Bingo. Central Baptist Church will offer chili, dessert and a drink at its booth.

Other booths will include such things as: candles, cookies, brownies, Rice Krispie treats, chances for gift baskets, graphic arts, watermelon motif items, floral items, jewelry, funny signs, face painting, dance items, hot chocolate and arts and crafts.

Shaw said one booth will put people's photos on different things, such as shirts or mouse pads, and another will be featuring a guess the number of seeds in the pumpkin.

"We've had a huge response," she said, "and if anyone is thinking about getting a booth, they need to do it now." Booth rental is $20. Shaw can be reached at 887-2605, ext. 246, or booths can be rented from Barbara Lowdermilk at Prescott Flowers by calling 887-3111.

There is a home and business decorating contest with the PumpkinFest as well. The businesses compete for a traveling plaque, while the home winners get to keep their award. For more information about this contest or to enter, call Karen Richards at 887-1539.

There will be plenty of games for all ages at the festival. For those who get unruly, they can be tossed in "jail" and have to "bail" themselves out. The jail and bail event was introduced last year and proved to be successful.

Another popular event is the costume contest for children and pets. People can dress their pets to be judged, and children can see who the judges think have the best Halloween outfit. This is held in the Curley Wolf pocket park across from the Flamingo Grill.

CHICS unveiled the Haul Your Hag contest last year. It generated some controversy locally, but proved to be fun for the competitors.

There will also be the pumpkin carving and pumpkin decorating contests, along with a bubble gum blowing contest and best decorated booth.

The Nevada County Picayune will be involved with its third annual toy drive. Toys can be dropped off at the CHICS booth. These toys will be distributed to needy children throughout the county to help improve their holiday season.

There will be a beautiful baby contest, along with a PumpkinFest Pageant.

The winners of this year's T-shirt design contest were Connie and Cass Martin. Richards said the shirt will be ready to be sold soon.

There will also be a PumpkinFest golf tourney at the Prescott Country Club. The tourney will be a three man scramble, with the entry fee $90 per team. It is an 18-hole event with cash prizes to be awarded. The field will be limited to the first 27 teams to enter. Tee time is set for 8 a.m.