2003: Keene's Pumpkin festival hits a new record with 28,952 lit gourds
October 26, 2003

<>By Will Coghlan for SentinelSource

The proof was in the pumpkins. Some 28,952 pumpkins to be exact. That tally of jack-o’-lanterns at Keene’s 13th annual Pumpkin Festival was more than enough to best Keene’s old record of 23,727, set in 2000.

And it was certainly enough to maintain Keene’s title as the jack-o’-lantern capital of the world, fending off Portland, Maine’s, attempt with an upstart festival that netted 15,001 carved pumpkins.

Not bad for a first try, but not nearly enough.

From the beginning, all signs pointed to a record-breaker. Saturday morning dawned sunny and crisp in the city — the perfect day for a crowd of more than 70,000 people to attempt a new jack-o’-lantern world record.

And, for one couple from Connecticut, it was the perfect day to get married.

Amongst the rows of world-record pumpkins and before an amused crowd, Frances Kveitkus and William Bowden exchanged vows in the Central Square gazebo just before 5 p.m. Saturday.

“We’ve been engaged for eight years, but we only decided to do this two weeks ago,” Bowden said. “We were coming here with friends anyway, and we don’t ever do anything traditional.”

Traditional or not, the Pumpkin Festival provided an impressive backdrop for the wedding, complete with a guestlist numbering in the tens-of-thousands, musical accompaniment from 20 different acts and a cavalry of three black stallions, courtesy of the Dover mounted police, standing at attention during the ceremony.

Avid motorcycle riders, the two were attended by a wedding party consisting of a dozen leather-clad friends from the western Connecticut chapter of HOG (the Harley Davidson Owner’s Group).

Bowden was quick to point out the couple’s pumpkin, carved to read “Bill and Fran 2003,” resting at the base of the gazebo.

“We’re not here just to get married, we want to be part of the record,” Bowden said.

There was no word on whether the happy couple went for pumpkin pie in place of wedding cake, but the gastronomic offerings that lined both sides of Main Street during the festival would have put even the priciest wedding reception to shame.

All of the food vendors at the Pumpkin Festival were raising money for area nonprofit groups, so the $2 for fried dough or the $1.50 for pumpkin pie was money well spent.

At the southern end of Main Street, the smell of mulling cider drew a long line to a booth manned by players from the Keene State College men’s lacrosse team.

The warm cider was a big seller on the cool fall day, as were the candied apples and Pumpkin Festival chocolate bars. The team was hoping to raise $3,000 to put toward their spring training trip.

Just up the street, Raymond Nye was piling soft pretzels onto the grill as fast as he could to keep up with demand. As for the size of the crowd and a prediction for the number of pumpkins, “I’ve been way too busy to notice,” said Nye.

The brisk pace of business was a good thing, though, as Nye’s pretzel sales were part of a benefit for the Gap Mountain Lion’s Club.

In previous years, area sports teams, charities and church groups have raised more than $65,000 at the Pumpkin Festival.

Just after 2 p.m., the children’s costume parade took over the streets.
“We usually have about 1,000 kids to start with, and another 1,000 jump in along the way,” said an orange-clad festival volunteer.

Another volunteer staffing a raffle-ticket booth in Railroad Square said she’d sold pumpkin-tally guesses to visitors from all over New England and states as far away as California.

The raffle tickets were a hot item this year, with an expense-paid trip to the 2004 Pumpkin Festival as the top prize.

After the costume parade there was trick-or-treating at Main Street businesses. Meghan Tucker, who sported a perfect rendition of Dr. Suess’s cat-in-the-hat character, distributed candy to the costumed kids who strolled by Creative Encounters, where she works.

“This is a lot better than last year, with the warm weather and the sun. We’ll have a new record,” Tucker said confidently.

Last year’s festival was dampened by rain, but there were still nearly 19,000 pumpkins on hand.

One of the most-noticed costume creations on Saturday was a troupe of 16 people who had teamed up as the whole cast of “The Wizard of Oz.” The Tin Man pointed to Dorothy as the instigator. Vicki Perkins of Jaffrey was dressed in gingham and pigtails, holding a Toto dog and wearing her ruby slippers.
“It’s just a big family thing we’ve been doing forever,” Perkins said as passing kids stopped to pose for a picture with the cast.

On West Street, a vintage fire truck gave rumbling rides to wide-eyed kids, and on Gilbo Avenue the distance record in the pumpkin seed spitting contest edged closer to 30 feet as the day went on.

Though record crowds meant record crowding and a few missing parents and children, Keene police said everyone was reunited by the end of the day.

As darkness fell, the focus returned to the pumpkins themselves as a team of 30 volunteers wearing “Pumpkin Counter” T-shirts took to the streets.

The big announcement was scheduled for 8:30 p.m., but counting the pumpkins was a mammoth endeavor, so the crush of people surrounding “Pumpkin Central” waited patiently as every last jack-o’-lantern was accounted for.

As the time edged toward 9 p.m., the numbers started rolling and a new record was set.

With the announcement of the final number, the crowd let out a cheer and all eyes turned skyward as fireworks lit up the night.

“Twenty years from now, I’m gonna tell my grandkids I was here when the record was set,” said Kenneth T. Mayler, eliciting groans from his 8-year-old son Charlie.

The Maylers made the trip from upstate New York to be at their first Pumpkin Festival after reading about it in a guidebook to fall festivals.
“This appeared to be the best one, and sure enough, that incredible number of pumpkins proves it,” Mayler said.

Wendy S. Ganio, who works as a Pumpkin Festival producer with Center Stage Cheshire County, said she couldn’t have asked for much more.

“The city came out, the sun came out, and the pumpkins came out.”