The Circleville Pumpkin Festival

It's a slice of small town Americana you don't get very often. But the Circleville Pumpkin Show was an eye-opener. These people are really (and I mean, really) into pumpkins. It's unbelievable to see the thousands of people cram into this town on a Wednesday. And it doesn't stop. The crowds range from 350,000 to 400,000 at the Show that runs for four days every third Wednesday in October through the next Saturday.

Pregame

Circleville may be small, but they have a Tim Horton's! Nothing beats the start of a morning than a Hot Caramel Smoothie and a donut from Timmy's.




















School Book Depository

If the Oswald of Pumpkin-Haters was in attendance, he would have a clear shot. We were kinda back and to the left of the building to get this shot...er, photo.

















Punkins

Yes, there were pumpkins. As far as the eye could see.








































The Band

I joined the band during the National Anthem.




















The Singers

The Jonas Brothers were there to sing "The Pumpkin Show". A traditional tune about, oddly enough, the Pumpkin Show.




















The Weigh-In

The highlight of Day One is the weigh-in. All of the giant pumpkins are trucked in one-by-one and the excitement builds as the pumpkins get larger and larger as the competition proceeds.

The Important Guy

This guy is as important to the Weigh-In as the Sousaphone player who dots the "I" for Script Ohio. For he is the guy who picks up the pumpkins and puts them on the scale and then carries them away for display. Unfortunately, his crew didn't secure one of the larger pumpkins and they dropped it! Trust me, there were audible gasps from the crowd! Some people spend 2-8 hours a day with their pumpkins to grow them this large, so to have one go "Splat!" was nauseating to those who witnessed it.

















The Method

This is how they rig up the pumpkins for weighing, this one grown by Hugh Jass, I think.




















The Official Photographer

My Dad aspires to be this guy.




















The Winner

This is the winning pumpkin...1636 pounds!




















The Prizes

Here are the winning pumpkins. In addition to the big trophy, the winner receives $1,000 in prize money from two organizations for a total of $2,000.




















The Mural

Check out the pumpkin mural.





















The Rides

There are midway rides at the Pumpkin Show. Including this gut-buster I vowed I would never go on.






















The Protester

The world is ending soon, if you didn't know. Well, after "Mockers", what's left? Why it's the tried-and true triumvirate of "Fornicators, Immodest Women and Homosexuals".




















Here is the wrapup from the local paper.