Pumpkin Fest through the ages

     Keene State College students have something attached to their name that no other school can claim, a nationally recognized Pumpkin Festival. This event, so seemingly obscure, actually bestows a meaningful gift to KSC students. This is, and has been, the ability to watch history unfold through the evolution of an annual festival.

    This weekend marked the festival's nineteenth anniversary since it began in 1991, however many attendees explored the center of Keene at their first Pumpkin Fest. The event was originally created to give locals a more festive and interactive Halloween and harvest season. Children could dress in costume, trick-or-treat and, of course, display their carved pumpkins amongst many others.

    Lois Rosick is 75 years old and has been attending Pumpkin Fest since its opening years. She said she was a bit disappointed with this year's turnout and enthusiasm.

    "It's not as good as it once was," Rosick said. "Not as many people seem to be in costume and not near as many pumpkins as there were the first few years."

    It's difficult to imagine that there were ever more people or more pumpkins in Keene's downtown area when students, residents and visitors had a tough time extending their strides to more than a slow walk, while the densely concentrated crowd slowly mulled up and down Main Street.

    But others agreed this year's number of pumpkins seemed depressed. Sixty-two-year-old Elaine has been coming to Pumpkin Fest for years and described where she saw a shortage.

    "There used to be more [pumpkins] in the middle section of Main Street and they had, at one point, more pumpkin towers on the side streets," she said.

    This dearth could be due to lack of financial backing from the city of Keene. Since the steep economic downturn, the town has significantly less funds to support the annual project.

    Jennifer Holton on Perkasie, N.H. is 41 years old. This was her fifth Pumpkin Fest and she saw a different explanation for the lack of pumpkin. She said, "We were here the year they broke the record and after that it went down attendance wise."

    Because much of the hype about possibly breaking a world record was absent this year, this could have lessened the festival's media reach and advertisement, therefore not succeeding in drawing in those craving to be a part of a huge news story.

    One thing that's remained the same throughout the festival's history is that one lit pumpkin far surpasses its peers in creativity and ingenuity. The displayed pumpkins have long been the main attraction for all ages.

    Ten-year-old Brigit came to Pumpkin Fest with her mother, Ava O'Dwyer, and said looking at the pumpkins is her favorite part of the event.

    "I like really big pumpkins!" Brigit said excitedly.

    Her mother said she had been having a great time pointing out and laughing at the pumpkins with funny or silly pictures or messages on them.

    Besides the funny and appropriate pumpkin carving for 10-year-olds like Brigit, another part of Pumpkin Fest that seems to have grown in popularity, is the carving of crude and sometimes offensive messages or images into the glowing orange plants.

    KSC Sophomore and 19-year-old Sam Vlasich is a New Hampshire resident and said he's been coming to Pumpkin Fest for many years now. He said he's noticed more pumpkins with immature carvings on them in the past couple years.

    "I have a younger brother and I don't want him seeing inappropriate things here," Vlasich said. "I feel like seeing those pumpkins reinforces that 'drunken college student' reputation Keene State gets sometimes."

    Perhaps this thought points the finger at the twenty-first century's less-obedient, adolescent-aged students with the newfound freedom of being away from home and the authority of mom and dad.

    Anyone who grew up in previous generations will probably tell the youth they're far more hardheaded and dangerously rebellious than they were at that time.

    Pumpkin Fest now has the effect of a school yearbook. Each new year becomes a snapshot in time, when photos reveal the latest fashion trends during that year and live band performances reinforce the popular music of the year.

    However, contradictory to this ever-changing essence that Pumpkin Fest captures, the taste of the New England clam chowder, the sense of community enjoyment and the majestic glowing unity of over 25,000 pumpkins never seems to dim or change from year to year.

    Pumpkin Fest, although relatively young, has the potential to become another timeless event in history.

Tara Nathan can be contacted at tnathan@keeneequinox.com.