Scout troops prepare the pumpkins for last year’s PumpkinFest.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
WESTFIELD — On Friday, Oct. 18, Scout Troops 821 and 124, as well as Cub Scout Pack 820, will camp out on the athletic fields behind Amelia Park, and gut and guard 1,500 pumpkins.
“It’s a lot of work but it’s a lot of fun,” said Jodie Gaugh, scoutmaster of Troop 124 of Scouting America, formerly known as Boy Scouts.
It’s all part of the preparation for Westfield on Weekends’ PumpkinFest, which will take place the next day.
At the event’s signature carving tent, children will get to carve and decorate the gutted gourds. The pumpkins are sourced from Calabrese Farms in Southwick, said WOW event director Jason Polan. Finished pumpkins can be added to the “pumpkin patch,” where they’ll accompany a sculpture by metal artists Sebastian and Connor Glebocki.
Gaugh said, “It saves a lot of time if they are gutted and prepared for kids ahead of time.”
The Friday before, starting around 5 or 6 p.m., the scouts set up camp at the athletic fields behind Amelia Park off South Broad Street. Gaugh’s troop consists of girls ages 11 to 17 who come from all across the Pioneer Valley.
The pumpkin gutting lasts a few hours; the scouts form an assembly line, sometimes singing songs to pass the time. For dinner, they throw a pizza party.
The camp does not have a campfire. Tents are next to the pumpkins.
“Just having a presence there deters anyone from coming in and messing with the pumpkins overnight,” said Gaugh.
Scouting America has been doing the prep work for several years, Gaugh said, having worked with WOW since PumpkinFest took place on Park Square. Camping out and prepping pumpkins teaches scouts the value of community, she said.
“A lot of what we teach in scouting is service to others and helping your community and being part of a community,” she said. “The kids do it because they’re having fun, the adults know they’re teaching citizenship … we teach leadership, serving others, learning about their community, there’s so much involved.”
It also allows scouts to accumulate community service hours, which can be put towards badges and promotions in rank.
Gaugh said that, for as long as there is a PumpkinFest and as long as it has a carving station, they will keep on taking part.
During the event itself, Scouting America will have an information booth with a s’mores station, games, candy. Troop 124 will also have a bake sale.
Something for all
Scouting America will not be the only one with a booth at PumpkinFest. Other local businesses and organizations with booths include the Westfield Homeless Cat Project and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, bankESB and Interskate 91.
PumpkinFest will also have a vendor’s marketplace with small businesses, representing various arts and crafts from face painting to sand art to candles, among others. Polan provided a list to Reminder Publishing with around 20 businesses; he and WOW President Bob Plasse said it will be less than previous years.
“Sometimes, it’s wonderful to have 100 vendors, but oftentimes, what that does is it decreases the sales for [each] one,” said Plasse.
There will also be musical performances on the main stage. Westfield’s own Madison Curbelo is headlining at 11 a.m. Following her is the Westfield High School Pep Band at 1 p.m., The Attik, an R&B, rock and pop band, at 1:45 p.m., and the All-Stars Dance Center dancers at 2:30 p.m. Between performers, WSKB radio host Jay Pagluica will sing seasonally appropriate tunes.
PumpkinFest will also feature a trunk-or-treat with over 20 cars and thousands of pieces of candy, said Polan. Local businesses and organizations will supply the cars, which will be decorated for the occasion.
Food trucks confirmed to be attending include Northside Creamery, Crave Cafe, Vlad’s Pizza, North End Butcher Block and Angelo’s Fried Dough.
As well, the Big Rig Rally run by Westfield Gas & Electric will allow children to “touch a truck.”
Participating organizations includes Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport with a snowblower, loader and dump truck; the Westfield Fire Department, Police Department, DPW and aviation museum with their respective vehicles; the State Police with a boat, a motorcycle and a Bearcat; Baystate Health with a bus; and the Westfield High School Astronomy Club with a solar telescope. There will also be an electric vehicle display.
In conjunction with the event, Amelia Park Arena will host a haunted house between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Costumed skating will be allowed between 3 and 5 p.m., with winners of the arena’s costume contest announced at 4 p.m.
Anyone who would like to volunteer can reach out to Westfield on Weekends at westfieldonweekends.com or through Facebook. More information about the event is available on the website.
