Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Pumpkin Festival date changes

This years Pumpkin Festival will be different than all previous ones.

According to Rita Shaw, president of CHICS (Citizens Helping Improve Community Standing), members will be going to local businesses trying to get them more involved by participating in the festival. We want businesses to have booths, she said. We want to emphasize building Prescott first.

In addition, the festival has been moved from the last Saturday in October to Oct. 22. This way there wont be two festivals on the same day. Gurdons Forest Festival is the final Saturday of the month each year.

Shaw said there will be new games at the festival, but the old favorites will still be there. The Haul your Hag race and pumpkin recipe contest, though have been dropped.

But, the Pumpkin Festival Pageant remains, and will be at a new location. The costume contest for children and pets will also be returning. The Pumpkin Patch will again be at Seasons on Highway 67.

To help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Shaw said CHICS is donating old Pumpkin Festival T-shirts to the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce to be given to the evacuees.

There will be a coloring contest for children in grades K-2. Ribbons will be presented to the top three in each grade, while the overall winners of each grade will get a pizza party for their class, Shaw said. The children will color the t-shirt design for the contest.

According to Shaw, the t-shirt design is being finalized and the winning entry will be screened onto shirts for the festival.

There will be a $50 cash prize to the best decorated booth this year, which should be incentive for businesses to put one up.

Other familiar events returning include the beautiful baby contest, pumpkin carving contest and pumpkin decorating contest. There will also be more games, according to Shaw.

At this time CHICS is talking about selling chances for $100 worth of gasoline. However, all the details havent been worked out for this yet.

Were focusing more on games this year, Shaw said. The local vendors will have things to sell and we want to keep the money in Prescott.

In the past, money raised by CHICS at the festival went toward a general scholarship for seniors at Prescott High School. This year, though, every CHICS booth will have a sign stating which local charity or organization the net profits will be donated to.