1993: Keene demolishes pumpkin record registered by Guinness
Local youths guard gourds at the festival
By ELIZABETH W. CROWLEY, Sentinel staff
Keene shattered its own jack-o'-lantern record in grand style Friday night by amassing a whopping 4,817 carved pumpkins on Central Square. Last year's tally of 1,628, although enough to earn the city a place in the 1994 Guinness Book of Records for the most jack-o'-lanterns in one place in the U.S., paled by comparison.
Organizer's of this year's Harvest Festival, which continues through Saturday, had set their sights on 3,000 carved pumpkins. But by 10 a.m. Friday, it became apparent even that number was too conservative. "We had piles and piles of pumpkins," said festival volunteer Douglas Mealey of Keene.
Throughout the day, schoolchildren, college students, business people -- everyone in Keene it seemed -- made their way to the square to drop off their contribution to the cause. Volunteers like Mealey worked feverishly to arrange the jack-o'-lanterns along Main Street and on a 40-foot-high scaffolding pyramid at Railroad Square.
Hundreds of visitors to the city and its residents were delighted by the final result -- a monument to Halloween flickering close to 5,000 jack-o'-lanterns strong. "That," nine-year-old Katie Rouse of Keene said as she came upon the pumpkin pyramid, "is really cool."
Organizers of the event from Center Stage Cheshire County had more people than they could count to thank for the success Paragon Cable Co. bought and distributed more than 1,500 pumpkins to city schools and businesses. The company spent more than $7,000 on the event. And then there were all those unsolicited jack-o'-lanterns that pushed Keene way over the top, Mealey said. "People were coming in with truck loads of carved pumpkins right up until the whole thing got started," he said.
Although downtown businesses opened their doors to trick-or-treaters Friday night, they were in competition for attention with the stars of the show -- the pumpkins. "I haven't had time to get much candy yet," said Travis Davenport of Spofford, a 4th-grader at Chesterfield School. Not with all those pumpkins to see, each one with its own unique face or message.
Dressed convincingly as a headless man, Travis attracted some attention of his own and left a wake of disbelieving stares and giggles.
While children, their parents and others of all ages and from several states enjoyed the evening's festivities, organizers of the event scurried up and down Main Street attempting to keep all of the jack-o'-lanterns lighted. Armed with torches, pocket lighters and matches, they astonished many onlookers by managing to keep about 90 percent of the pumpkins lighted through the evening,.
"There are a lot if Rotarians walking around with burnt thumbs," Mealey jokes. About 60 members of the Rotary Club volunteered for duty.
So that the only thing broken Friday night would be a record, several groups of students from Keene State College, including the Rugby Club, agreed to stand guard over the city's jack-o'-lantern collection overnight. They and troops of Boy Scouts have volunteered to do the same Saturday night.
The schedule of events for Saturday includes a Halloween costume parade in the morning and another pumpkin promenade in the evening. Other events on Saturday include music from 11:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Railroad Square and a petting farm from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Central square. Face-painting, balloons, clowns and food will be offered all day at Monadnock Children's Museum.
On Sunday, it's the pigs' turn to have some fun. Anyone who wants some can pick up pumpkins before 10 a.,m. Sunday, said Nancy Sporborg, executive director of Center Stage Cheshire County. But the rest will be hauled away by local pig farmers and a few from out of state who will feed them to their animals.
This dispatch was published Saturday, Oct. 30, 1993 in The Keene Sentinel
