Pumpkin Fest

Oct. 16—SUMMIT TOWNSHIP — The sky over Conneaut Lake Park was dark Sunday afternoon — darker than organizers of the 2023 Fall Pumpkin Fest might have liked.

Things brightened shortly before 4 p.m., however, when the clouds near the park seemed to part and an enormous orange spheroid appeared in the sky.

The great pumpkin had arrived — not the imaginary one from "Peanuts," but the 1,800-pound one from Huntsburg, Ohio, where it was raised by pumpkin grower Jerry Rose, according to the tag that came attached to the monster.

The time to smash the great pumpkin had arrived as well. As a crane lifted the pumpkin toward the heavens, visitors made their way to the eastern end of the park, around the area where the Blue Streak roller coaster once stood. Hundreds of people lined the taped-off area that had been set up for what has become an annual autumn spectacle of automotive annihilation.

Excitement was growing along with the side of the crowd, but the conditions were troubling to Dakota Papsun, the owner of DJs Truck & Auto Salvage who supplies junkers to be flattened by falling fruit each year.

Despite the clear skies, it was far from perfect pumpkin-dropping weather, according to Papsun, who made his way from the Toyota Tacoma stationed under the pumpkin to the line of waiting spectators.

"It's windy," he said. "The big thing people don't realize — and the crane guys who come out her too — to get that to drop right is tough."

There are no do-overs in pumpkin smashing, but experienced gourd-based impresarios are ready with alternatives.

"Always come up with a backup plan," Papsun said, speaking from experience. When the wind and an unexpected roll out of the net suspending it led to a mere glancing blow on a Volkswagen Beetle two years ago, Papsun improvised. No substitute squash was available, but the Beetle itself would likely be squashed if it were dropped, he realized. The result met with audience approval.

Having learned from the experience, Papsun made his way down the line of spectators Sunday, warning them that if the crane operator's aim were off, the team was ready to lift the Subaru Legacy that had been smashed with a 1,600-pound pumpkin on Saturday and drop the car onto the Toyota truck and the pumpkin remains.

Among the crowd, 5-year-old Jeremy Granger marveled at the sight of the suspended pumpkin.

"This is going to be awesome," he said to his nearby family. "Is that even a real pumpkin?"

Assured that the massive gourd was indeed real, he took an optimistic stance on the upcoming drop.

"It's going to smash the truck," he said confidently.

Jeremy's family had traveled about an hour from Struthers, Ohio, near Youngstown, along with relatives from the New Castle area to attend the festival. His mother, Carrie Granger, said the family was "absolutely" having fun and her sister-in-law Ashley Mellott of Edinburg seconded the verdict.

"Rain and cold and everything," she said, "and we're still having fun."

Carrie Granger said she had come to the park every summer when she was young and when she heard about the festival decided to bring her Jeremy and his 1-year-old sister, Lydia.

In addition to the Devil's Den, which she remembered riding as a kid, the family had enjoyed the Octopus spinning ride and others and "lots of food — funnel cakes, apple dumplings," Granger added.

Jeremy's smile still wore the evidence of chocolate ice cream as well as the pumpkin drop approached.

Inside the cab of the nearby crane from Precision Crane of Linesville, Rich Roland seemed unperturbed by 1,800 pounds of pumpkin-related pressure and the staring eyes of the hundreds hoping for a solid smash.

"I don't want to say there is a secret," he said regarding the key to a perfectly placed plummeting pumpkin, "because I think it's luck. You never know the thing is going to fall out of there."

It may also be the case that more than 20 years of experience helps augment the luck needed for a good drop, but like Papsun, Roland remembered the glancing blow from 2021 that resulted when the pumpkin rolled a bit coming out of the net instead of dropping straight down.

In the end, the heavy orange orb fell just right on Sunday, landing squarely on the hood and front windshield area (all glass parts had been removed prior to the drop) and dealing the pickup truck a solid blow.

In the spirit of giving the people what they want, Papsun and others almost immediately hooked up the flattened Legacy from Saturday's event and hoisted that for a bonus drop that resulted in another bullseye and a truly crushing blow. As the Legacy bounced upon impact, the truck bent into a V-like shape with the point of the V located just behind the front wheels.

For Becky Leonard, the Conneaut Lake Area Business Association member who leads the organization of the festival and about 25 volunteers who help put it on, the crowd that gathered to watch the pumpkin splatter is the goal each year.

"We bring business into Conneaut Lake through Fall Pumpkin Fest," she said shortly after the drop. "It's not about how much we make, it's about bringing the business into the town."

Due to the rain and cold on Saturday in particular, crown size was down significantly from the several thousand who usually attend.

"It wasn't anywhere close to that," she said.

But there were positives, Leonard added. The festival drew close to 100 vendors, and the vendors were arranged more densely, instead of "being stretched out" along the entire midway of the park as in years past.

"Because of the wonderful changes that they have done here at the park, we relocated to the front of the park," she said, "so it was all together."

The same reorganization led to the pumpkin drop being moved closer to the park entrance from Route 618 for the first time, Leonard noted, which also helped draw more attention to it.

Less than 30 minutes after the pumpkin drop, Leonard and other organizers were back in the recreational vehicle that serves as headquarters during the three-day event.

"I'm working one next year," Leonard said, sounding a bit like Jeremy Granger just before the pumpkin drop.

Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com.