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No Record Smashed, But Pumpkin Volunteers Aglow

October 08, 2008 - CUMBERLAND — Volunteering isn't always pretty.

"It's disgusting," Michelle Small of Westbrook said as she dug out the innards of another pumpkin, one of thousands stacked up around the Cumberland Fairgrounds Saturday.

As unpleasant as it was, Small was still happy in her role as a "gutter," working with "toppers" on one side and carvers on the other as part of an assembly line churning out thousands of jack-o'-lanterns for Pumpkinfest Saturday. The goal of the dozens of carving teams was simple: to break Pumpkinfest's own world record – yes, people do keep track of such things – of 30,128 lit, carved pumpkins.

But the goal would not be met despite a glowing (ha ha) effort. Officials of Camp Sunshine, which organizes Pumpkinfest, said that 21,500 lit pumpkins had been counted at 9 p.m., but that the record would not fall.

"It's not going to be a world record, we can see that," said Matt Hoidal, executive director of Camp Sunshine. "But in the end it's not about the record, it's about raising funds and awareness for Camp Sunshine."

No matter the outcome of Saturday's event, Camp Sunshine already holds the lit pumpkin record, having set it two years ago in Boston. Camp Sunshine will also host pumpkin festival fundraisers in Boston and New York this year.

Hoidal said Saturday's event tallied 7,000 more pumpkins than the last time Camp Sunshine held a Pumpkinfest in Maine.

On Saturday, hundreds of volunteers like Small came out to help Camp Sunshine, which provides a respite for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Before the gates even opened Saturday, hundreds of people were lopping the tops off the pumpkins, cleaning out the seeds and pulp and carving a face. The whole process took about 30 seconds to a minute per pumpkin, with power tools helping reduce the time considerably for those using a router bit to quickly open up holes for eyes, a nose and mouth.

Dozens of additional volunteers helped crate the pumpkins, which were then moved by forklift or tractor to an area where the pumpkins were arranged for lighting. And standing by were teams of lighters, armed with gas grill lighters, to get candles going inside all those thousands of pumpkins.

The effort is all in support of a good cause. Hoidal estimated that his organization would take in about $100,000 from parking, food sales by vendors, and from donors who pitched in $10 each for about 2,200 "grow heart" pumpkins, with heart shapes cut out instead of lopsided grins and goofy eyes.

Hoidal said Camp Sunshine was happy to have Pumpkinfest back in Maine. Two years ago it was moved to Boston, where one of the camp's largest sponsors was located and where many of the children who attend the camp live. That's also why there's a New York event, he said, but Camp Sunshine also wants to maintain its visibility in its home state, he said.

Pumpkinfest clearly had a base of volunteers ready to go once it returned to Maine.

Clarice Kashinsky of Gray said her arm was already sore Saturday morning from topping and gutting 300 pumpkins yesterday as part of a carving marathon at her children's school. She said she was likely to help prepare at least that many Saturday.

Small, who works at the accounting firm Macdonald Page & Co., a major sponsor of the event, went to Pumpkinfest as a volunteer counter. She said that her gutting might not have been as fastidious as it will be when it comes time to carve her own pumpkin at home.

"It's all about quantity, not quality," she said.

Rebecca Blaise, a student at the University of Southern Maine, admitted that creativity goes out the window when the focus is on thousands of pumpkins, rather than just one or two outside a front door for Halloween,

"The first few I said, 'Let's make these cute,' but now it's just, 'Push them out, push them out,' " she said.

By EDWARD D. MURPHY, Staff Writer October 5, 2008


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