Newtown Responds To The Great Pumpkin Challenge

By Eliza Hallabeck & Shannon Hicks

Mackenzie Page began receiving jack-o’-lanterns for The Great Pumpkin Challenge on Saturday, October 29. It was her original plan to collect the carved pumpkins and display them on scaffolding on the front lawn of her family’s 14 Main Street home to offer something new for Halloween on Main Street as well as to serve as a dual fundraiser. Financial donations are being divided between the American Cancer Society and the family of Zoe McMorran, a friend of Zoe’s family who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer.

As of Monday morning, Mackenzie had received 78 pumpkins in response to her challenge.

While October 31 was her original deadline for the challenge, last weekend’s snowstorm changed those plans. Trick-or-treating on Main Street was postponed until at least this coming weekend, and so Mackenzie has decided to continue to accept donations, both financial and of the pumpkin variety, all week.

One thing that remained on schedule: the Newtown Middle School eighth grade student illuminated the pumpkins, using Christmas bulbs in place of candles, Monday evening. She will light them nightly, she said, until trick-or-treaters arrive on Main Street.

The pumpkins’ designs range from traditional jack-o’-lanterns to unique personal carvings. There are witches, ghosts (both nice as well as scary looking), owls and spiders, alongside everything from a pumpkin with a horse’s head, another with a tiger’s head, and even one with the word HOPE carved into it.

The collection also includes a cupcake, a pumpkin with the town seal on it, a black bat, and even one made to look like the front of a Jeep grille.

To protect the pumpkins once they have been delivered, Mackenzie is keeping them covered with tarps each night.

The First Pumpkins Arrive

Mackenzie, along with younger brother Baxter and one of her older brothers, Riley, were outside the cold morning of Saturday, October 29, eagerly awaiting the first arrivals of jack-o’-lanterns. A few carved pumpkins had already been placed on scaffolding that had been set up in the front yard of the Page property. Baxter had carved a small jack-o’-lantern, that was already on view too, along with a trio that had been donated by members of Newtown Senior Center.

Mackenzie was in very happy spirits Saturday morning.

“I’m not sure how many pumpkins we’ll get, but I know that there are at least three neighborhood parties going on today that people have told me about, where they are going to be making jack-o’-lanterns for this,” she said.

Another great piece of news had already welcomed her that morning. Thanks to online donations (through a secure Donate Now button on her website, www.GreatPumpkinChallenge.org) as well as donations people had dropped off, Mackenzie’s Great Pumpkin Challenge had already exceeded the $1,000 mark. And that was before she began receiving pumpkins from the public.

“Our website had been visited by people from 28 states,” said Alan Page, Mackenzie’s father, who helped design and does administration for her website. “It’s been just remarkable.”

Shortly after 10 am, a pair of police cruisers and a town pickup truck were seen approaching the residence. The cruisers had their lights flashing, and the pickup was between the two cars, with Newtown Director of Emergency Communications Maureen Will behind the wheel. While the cruisers parked on Main Street, Ms Will pulled into the Page driveway, rolled the window down, and called out to Mackenzie, “Where do you want these pumpkins?”

Ms Will was delivering more than a dozen pumpkins on behalf of town department heads. She also carried with her more than $225 in donations from the town employees and a note that said in part that “100 percent of all departments represented by the town participated. We had so much fun doing this project and are all looking forward to participating next year. You have made us all opZOmists!”

Joining Ms Will was Police Officer Maryhelen McCarthy, who is also the director of Newtown Police Explorers, and Officer Larissa Nosal. Explorers Emily Clark and Jennifer Sweat were also on hand, with pumpkins they and fellow Explorers had carved, as well as a donation from the Explorers, too.

By Wednesday, November 2, donations had grown to $2,997.

The Great Pumpkin Challenge: Some History

As mentioned above, a donation of at least $4 for each pumpkin received is being requested. The money will be divided between the American Cancer Society and the family of Zoe McMorran, a family friend of Mackenzie’s who was recently diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a very aggressive form of brain cancer.

“Zoe is being cared for with the latest medicine, but cancer treatment is very expensive,” Mackenzie, 13, wrote in a letter she sent to The Bee recently. “She has asked everyone to be not an optimist, but an opZOmist … Thinking about ways to be opZOmistic, I became inspired.”

Seated at the family table in the kitchen of her home recently, Mackenzie shared more of her thoughts on her friend, the recent news, and what she was doing to add to Halloween in Newtown.

Zoe and her family, including identical twin sister Avery, live just outside Boston. Mackenzie’s mother Liz, and Zoe and Avery’s father Pat, went to high school together, and that friendship has continued as each friend became married and started their families. The McMorrans visited the Pages most recently over the summer break from school. No one had any idea of the major change that was coming.

“These girls were here over the summer,” said Liz Page, Mackenzie’s mother. “They’re active little girls, cheerleaders. The kids were running around the backyard, doing somersaults. It’s crazy that they’ve gone from that to this.”

“This” is the diagnosis of Zoe’s brain tumor the McMorran family received at the end of August. The fifth grader reportedly told her parents she was not feeling well one day, and within a week test results unveiled the frightening news. Zoe is being treated with chemotherapy and radiation, along with some physical therapy to deal with some paralysis.

Liz and Alan Page shared the news with their family over Labor Day weekend. The family was still without power following Tropical Storm Irene a week earlier, remembers Mackenzie, and everyone — including younger brother Baxter and older brothers Riley and Mason — was together at the kitchen table.

“My mom was in tears. I broke down too, when she told me,” said Mackenzie. “I was really sad, obviously, but also devastated. It’s unfair that this little girl should get this. I can’t wrap my head around this.”

“The parents, and Zoe, are so optimistic,” Liz Page was quick to add. “She is a really determined kid. There is no ‘Why me?’ attitude. It’s almost infectious.”

“I wanted to donate money and being a kid I don’t really have a lot of money to spend,” Mackenzie said. “So I came up with something I could do to raise money.”

For those who cannot drop off a pumpkin and donation, or who would like to just make a donation for The Great Pumpkin Challenge, Newtown Savings Bank has set up an account for the project. Donations can be dropped off at any NSB branch, or checks can be made out to The Great Pumpkin Challenge and mailed to Newtown Savings Bank, 39 Main Street, Newtown CT 06470.

“My goal is to bring the community of Newtown together with this exciting new tradition,” Mackenzie wrote in the letter that launched her project. “By being a part of The Great Pumpkin Challenge, everyone will have a fun time, but can also help many people along the road to a cure.”

For additional information visit www.GreatPumpkinChallenge.org or send a note to mackenzie@GreatPumpkinChallenge.org. There is also a Facebook page, Great Pumpkin Challenge of Newtown, that offers regular updates on the project.