The winners of the pumpkin carving contest were Chloe Lanham, Mayor’s Choice (represented by her mother, Michelle); Liam Sadler, ages 17 and up; Alex Black, ages 0-5; Isabelle Spurgeon, ages 6-10; and Maylee Salsbury, ages 11-16.
The City of Hurricane’s annual pumpkin carving event is a yearly tradition which brings families together in a communal challenge of cutting unique designs into the flesh of pumpkins. This year, the Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza was held at a new location: the Putnam County Bank Sports Complex at Bridge Park. The event featured 500 free pumpkins, plus free carving tools and design templates.
Participants in the carving event could choose to take their creations home or enter them in a contest to win a gift package from the sponsor. Winning entries were produced by Alex Black, ages 0-5; Isabelle Spurgeon, ages 6-10; Maylee Salsbury, ages 11-16; Liam Sadler, ages 17+. Chloe Lanham won Mayor’s Choice.
In addition to having a new location, the Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza featured a brand new activity: an inflatable costume race.
The race of the inflatables resulted from an August 12 Facebook post in which Mayor Scott Edwards inquired about community interest to make the race part of the upcoming pumpkin carving event. The post was followed by a second post, in which Edwards stated, “My inflatable race post yesterday had the most agreeable set of comments I’ve ever read on any of my posts, ever!”
The finalized race plan produced four different contests, based upon age, in which only full body inflatable costumes would be allowed.
On Saturday, race day, a wild assortment of inflated dinosaurs, sharks, characters from popular cartoons, an upside down clown doing a handstand, an enormous birthday cake, and a skeletal unicorn vyied for gift card prizes. Winners were the first to run fifty yards across a field and back. The larger than life figures all deserved prizes for their sight as they bobbed and bobbled across the course.
The winners of the inflatable race were Scott Johnson of Hurricane, Liam Sadler of Huntington, Paxton Meniere of Culloden, and Carter Laforest of Culloden.
