KSC Pumpkin Lobotomy kicked off the Pumpkin Fest weekend with carving, live music and student organizations on Fiske Quad Friday, Oct. 17.
The event was organized by KSC Student Government, who brought in 2,500 pumpkins for eager participants to carve up and contribute to the world record attempt. Student Body President Bobby Graham said the event is a massive organizational undertaking, “It took a lot of stressful planning. We started one or two weeks into September; it has been a long process.”
Participants arrived at Pumpkin Lobotomy to a sea of pumpkins sprawled across the lawn where Fiske Quad meets Appian Way. After carefully selecting their pumpkin, they then pick a spot on the lawn, lay out their recycled newspapers and get to gutting and cutting.
“Typically, every single pumpkin gets carved,” Graham said.
KSC students Hannah Elliott and Natalie Rees said they both enjoyed the event. Rees showed off her dog carving and said, “The bands are really good, I know a few people in the bands and I know they work really hard at it.”
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Elliott created a mummy carving which she painted white. She added, “It’s a really good time, people should come.”
Graham continued to explain once the jack-o-lantern is carved, the artists brings it over to the registration table where a candle is inserted and it is tallied. “We put in a candle because the record is for lit carved pumpkins. Grounds works right [with us] and brings the pumpkins down to Main Street,” Graham explained. Graham added that student government was able to have a smaller presence at this year’s Pumpkin Lobotomy.
He said, “We approached it a little differently this year. We put less student money into the event than we have in years past. As soon as we started getting table applications we saw that the student organizations themselves were going above and beyond having awesome table ideas here. What’s making this event special is the community effort.” One of the campus organizations that made contributions to the event was R.O.C.K.S.
According the R.O.C.K.S Facebook page, the campus organization donated about 50 leftover pumpkins after the event to the Hundred Nights Shelter. R.O.C.K.S also worked alongside the Eco-Reps to increase the recycling effort. Brianna Enderson, a member of Eco-Reps, said she collaborated with her residence director and Rick Cramer of Sodexo to create an outlet for all the pumpkin seeds.
Enderson along with volunteers separated the seeds from the guts. “It’s a little more tedious than we thought, but it’s really cool,” Enderson said.According to Enderson, this was the first year Sodexo has agreed to work with the pumpkin seeds. “It has been tried for at least the last five years and this is the first time they have said yes.”
Freshman Eco-Reps member Brittany LaFleur said, “It’s a good way to show that Eco-Reps are involved and sharing what we are doing. Putting our name out there is really important.”
When the seeds were weighed at the end of Pumpkin Lobotomy, the group collected and separated 58 pounds of seeds, which will be washed, roasted and seasoned at the Zorn Dining Commons. At the end of the event, over 1,800 pumpkins were carved, according the KSC website. Graham concluded, “Overall we are very happy with the day.”
David Walsh can be contacted at dwalsh@keene-equinox.com