CB Cares Pumpkinfest cancelled, will return to Doylestown next year

A 30-year Halloween tradition that managed to draw hundreds to Doylestown during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 couldn't weather a rift between the nonprofit organizing the event and the Central Bucks School District.

CB Cares Educational Foundation President Phil Ehlinger said in an email to this news organization Wednesday that the two-day Pumpkinfest was on “hiatus” this year but would return to the Moravian Tile Works courtyard in 2023 as the group continues looking ahead after a falling out with Central Bucks earlier this year.

“CB Cares Pumpkinfest will be back in 2023 better than ever!” Ehlinger said.

CB Cares was previously Central Bucks' only educational foundation for 25 years, but that partnership came to an abrupt end in late March.

A district press release announced plans to develop its own nonprofit educational foundation, but the district also provided a statement to this news organization from a former CB Cares official who said the two might still work together.

The district said in March the decision to form a new educational foundation was unrelated to any then-recent criticism of CB Cares and that the new foundation would allow Central Bucks to better leverage a network of alumni and local businesses on a larger scale than CB Cares.

"We want our students to enter their post-graduate life armed with the skills and experiences they deserve to live a fulfilling and impactful life. The opportunities that a well-funded educational foundation can provide are immeasurable, and we are excited at the prospect of how this endeavor can enhance our students’ experiences in Central Bucks," district spokeswoman Angela Linch said earlier this year.

A letter from Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh to CB Cares board members sent on March 29, the same day the new foundation was announced, said the district was severing ties with the nonprofit over "political affiliations, disruptive messaging and failure to execute duties as delineated in its agreement with the district.”

Ehlinger, who provided Lucabaugh’s letter to this news organization in May, said previously he believed the decision was in part a result of a push by some area residents to remove LGTBQ-related books from schools and lingering coronavirus pandemic tensions.

CB Cares helped deliver about 2,300 KN95 and N95 masks into the hands of several hundred teachers, support staff and transportation workers in the district following a parent-led donation drive in January.

CB Cares helps mask CBSD staff:Central Bucks parents lead effort to distribute 2,300 masks to district teachers, support staff

The nonprofit has also long been a target of the group challenging "sexually explicit" books known as Woke PA, which devotes a page on its website to CB Cares and a "Rainbow Book Rack" in a Central Bucks teacher's classroom.

The book rack was funded through a small grant program administered by CB Cares and features dozens of titles on LGBTQ issues, some books among over a dozen specifically under scrutiny by Woke PA. The website includes what appears to be an image of the book rack taken from a video inside the classroom late last August, according to sources in the district.

That video was referenced in recent civil rights complaints filed by the ACLU of Pennsylvania with the federal departments of Education and Justice earlier this month. The complaints allege that the district has created a toxic learning environment for LGBTQ students through a series of policy and administrative actions.

ACLU files complaint against CBSD:ACLU alleges 'toxic environment' at Central Bucks School District for LGBTQ+ students

"The video spurred additional homophobic attacks on CB Cares and other members of the community that were seen as supporting LGBTQ+ youth. An anonymous letter was sent to the major community partners of CB Cares, the employers of CB Cares board members, and members of the CBSD administration, accusing CB Cares of “grooming” and providing child pornography to children," the complaint states.

CB Cares moves on from CBSD:CB Cares fights for its future as Central Bucks cuts ties. What's next for the nonprofit?

Ehlinger said Thursday that CB Cares has finished a new strategic plan to continue events like the Pumpkinfest, which has raised funds for drug prevention programs and social and emotional learning programs for area youth and families in Central Bucks communities.

The specifics of the full plan are expected in the coming months, but Ehlinger said they expect to also continue its annual Boomerang Youth Recognition Award, Parent Positive speaker series and its positive coaching awards, just without involvement from the district.

CB Cares currently partners with Doylestown Health and the YMCA of Bucks County, according to information at www.cb-cares.org.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Rift between CB Cares and Central Bucks cancels Pumpkinfest this year