Pumpkins Will Be Rolling On Saturday

Newtown’s Halloween weekend is always a great time for kids of all ages.

Part of the fun is dressing up in costumes, going trick or treating, and even doing last-minute pumpkin carving. Now Newtown Lions Club is adding a new element for Halloween weekend, with something for all ages: The Great Pumpkin Race.

The event will debut on Saturday, October 30, from 1 to 4 pm. It will be held in the parking lot behind Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street (rain date is Sunday, October 31).

A series of fun events has been planned for the three-hour event, starting with pumpkin races. Pumpkins can be of any size, but must be mounted (and not on skates or skateboards) on four wheels, with an axle going through the pumpkin.

Lions are encouraging parents and kids to make their own racers so they can try them in advance, but Lions Club members will be available to help people assemble a racer on Saturday if needed. There is an $5 entry fee for racers, and Lions will have an additional small charge for those who would like to use one of their racing pumpkins for the afternoon.

Races will be run in heats, with age categories, and prizes will be awarded.

There will also be a pumpkin pie contest. There is no entry fee for this, but entrants are asked to bring two pies for the competition — one for tasting, and one to be auctioned off.

Two pies in aluminum plates should be brought to the site between noon and 1 pm. They must not have a premade or store-bought crust, and they cannot be cream pies.

Pies will be judged on the basis of taste, texture, appearance, and overall impression. The judging panel will include tasters and chefs from local restaurants, as well as Newtown native and current Miss Connecticut Teen America, Taylor Murchison-Gallagher.

If racing and/or baking is not your thing, decorating pumpkins may be your event. With entrants categorized by age, prizes will be awarded in each age group for Funniest Pumpkin, Scariest Pumpkin, and Best Decorated Pumpkin.

In addition to all this, a trebuchet (“tre-byu-SHAY”) will be launching pumpkins into the woods behind the town hall. The device, designed and constructed two years ago by Newtown Middle School technology education instructor Don Ramsey and Mark Michaud, the father of a then-Newtown Middle School student and an NMS educational assistant, will be brought out of hibernation and set up to fire a few pumpkins in honor of the day. Steve Paproski of Castle Hill Farm will provide some of the pumpkins for launching.

“If you haven’t ever seen one of these medieval devices, they are a real treat to behold,” said Gordon Williams, a member of The Great Pumpkin Race Committee.

Attendees will also be treated to free coffee and donuts from Blue Jay Orchards. Costumes are certainly encouraged, and a costume parade will be held midafternoon.