Middlebury wrecks, races pumpkins for charity

Oct. 8—MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury Pumpkin Race is about more than just speed.

"It's about having fun," coordinator Darla Kauffman said during the annual race on Saturday.

Aside from awards given to contestants in the categories of Cutest, Most Spirited and Most Original, the annual event brings out food vendors, nonprofits, and a big heavy mallet.

Her husband Kent made the decision early on to race a pumpkin he knew would suffer death-by-mallet. It's called an "illegal pumpkin" by the race's rules.

Darla and Kent have a family and friend inside joke with a clown statue they've named Chuckles. Chuckles travels with them and has participated in community events with them for years. So far, he's been to 13 states after living a life atop many helium tanks available for rent before his owner's company went out of business and offered the clown new life with Kent.

"I got home and this was just in my garage," Darla said.

Chuckles even has his own Instagram page called chucklestheclown22.

A lover of adventure, the inanimate clown wasn't about to miss the opportunity to ride down Warren Street strapped to a pumpkin, but the axles permitted for the race wouldn't support his weight so Kent decided to put him on full chassis.

Rules as they are, Kent and Chuckles knew their fates were sealed when the decision was made. He could still race, but he couldn't win his heat, and his pumpkin would meet an in-season yet untimely smashing at the hands of the judges' mallet.

"If it is determined to be a cheater, it can be smashed by the hammer of justice," Kauffman explained, with owner consent. Either way, they won't win. "We just want to keep it fun."

Others, too, brought a layer of fun to the race with their illegal behaviors. In fact, Middlebury Police Chief Robert Baker himself joined in the surge of illicit racing this year.

He joined the business heats along with Middlebury Town Manager Mary Cripe and the Middlebury Public Works Department Superintendent Robert Miller, having matching M&M-inspired pumpkin designs. Town hall and the public works department followed the rules to a T, but the police department chose to secretly stash behind their racer's ensemble of blue M&M paint a watermelon instead of a pumpkin. While it raced down the hill at epic speeds, the judges weren't remotely fooled. The new chief then failed to bribe the judges with candy and the determination was solidified with a taste test.

"The rules say it has to be a pumpkin," Kauffman said. "It has to be on the axles and the axles have to be through the pumpkin and on the wheels."

So there are no chassis and no watermelons permitted, and the consequence is smashing, but the race's controversies don't end there.

"There's been lots of talk about bigger versus smaller," Kauffman said. "Honestly, bigger is going to roll faster. It might not start out as fast but it'll get there."

The complexity of the pumpkin race continues though, as axles and wheels have to be straight in order for the unit to race straight- not that it matters on a sloped roadway. There's a little skill that goes into the racing, but mostly it's just chance.

All-in-all, the race is about having fun. There's food vendors, multiple dance breaks, and a DJ that keeps the jokes coming. After all is said-and-done, the most important decision to make is which of the chosen nonprofits to donate the race's earnings to. The grand champions and their superman pumpkin chose to donate the funds raised at the Middlebury Pumpkin Race to Stable Grounds, a nonprofit organization that fosters mental health through equine therapy in Middlebury.

Businesses were also permitted to race, but they couldn't win. Kauffman said she was happy about the number of businesses that also joined in the races this year.

"It just adds another dynamic to the race," she said. "We want businesses to race each other for bragging rights for the traveling trophy, especially when it's a Middlebury business."

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.