Hoarded Ordinaries

Here’s proof that even downtown merchants get into the Pumpkin Fest spirit each October: a genuine pumpkin drumset in the window of Cheshire Music, which also features a pumpkin electric guitar, pumpkin amp, and pumpkin trombone on display.

If you aren’t thoroughly sick of pumpkins by now, check out Keene blogger Jon Udell’s screencast of Pumpkin Fest 2005, which includes video evidence of how festival volunteers light all those towering pumpkins along with proof that yes, candle-lit pumpkins can and do remain lit in a torrential downpour. Enjoy!

This blind pencam shot of Joey’s Diner in Amherst, NH is my belated submission for last Friday’s Photo Friday theme of Retro. I love to sit and write in diners, and I also love to take blind pencam shots there. I pass this 50s-style diner every time I drive to Nashua, NH to meet my friend A (not her real initial) for beer & burritos, so earlier this month when I had some extra time on my way to see imbibe margaritas & appetizers with Leslee in Salem, MA, I stopped by Joey’s to see what the inside looks like.

As it turns out, Joey’s piped-in music (50s classics, of course) is too loud to encourage serious thought…but otherwise it’s the type of clean, well-lighted place that makes for good writing. The next time I go there, I’ll bring earplugs, and I’ll order an old-fashioned chocolate milkshake. How retro is that?

Had yesterday been clear and sunny instead of drizzly and overcast here in Keene…had the trees been more brilliantly colored instead of muted and half denuded…had this year’s Pumpkin Festival crowds not been disheartened by high gas prices and rumors of rain, rain, rain in southern New Hampshire, the above scene would have been Picture Perfect with its glimpse of the giant gourd atop the Central Square pumpkin tower, our pristine Congregational church steeple in the background, and flags flying high and proud. Instead of being picture perfect, though, yesterday’s annual Pumpkin Festival was all but: dampened by day-long drizzle that turned full-blown downpour by nightfall, this year’s pumpkin count was significantly smaller than last year’s.

Not only did this year’s Pumpkin Festival tally of 22,157 lit jack-o-lanterns fail to top our own 2003 World Record of 28,952, yesterday’s attempt was bested by the Life Is Good festival, which featured 24,541 glowing gourds on Boston Common. But although Boston’s relative upstart festival won this year’s battle, they haven’t won the Gourd War. Considering that Keene streets were awash in water two weekends ago, it’s a wonder we had a festival at all…and the healthy crowds cruising Keene’s all-but-dry streets yesterday didn’t seem to mind World Records and numbers games. Instead, yesterday’s festival was all about community, a good time, and the simple act of strolling solid ground with family, friends, and neighbors. Unbroken World Records notwithstanding, that’s nothing to feel disappointed about!

Two weekends after the flood, Keene seems to have found the sense of humor that was temporarily submerged in soaked basements and damped amid evacuation orders. Not only did I spot a pumpkin with the carved slogan “Floods suck,” I was quick to note the humor of this year’s parade-leading drum major, who was dressed as every flood victim’s favorite super-hero: a plunger-waving plumber.

Here in Keene at least, being called a “Pumpkin Head” is a compliment, not an insult: it means you’re in excellent company.

Although rain dampened the after-dark conclusion of yesterday’s festival, during the daytime at least the crowds were healthy and enthusiastic, even under overcast skies and amid sporadic drizzle.

Families who arrived without jack-o-lanterns gathered to carve last minute creations alfresco.

Although by early morning, still-empty shelves suggested that this year’s pumpkin count wouldn’t match last year’s, by dusk the Main Street scaffolds were full of gourds–and the streets full of people–stretching from one end of downtown to the other.

Although Leslee, Gary, and I left the festival before it was completely dark and every gourd was lit, around 7 pm there seemed to be more pumpkins than available scaffolding, with a neat queue of jack-o-lanterns glowing at curbside.

Although we didn’t break our own World Record, and although Boston thinks they can challenge our reign as the Pumpkin King, I have to say that a day spent strolling pedestrian-filled streets with smiling, happy people is even better than a sunny day. While Boston bean-counters are crunching the pumpkin numbers, yesterday in Keene turned out to be all but picture perfect after all.

Be sure to check out Leslee’s account of our day at the Pumpkin Festival, including a picture of Gary and me photographing that well-endowed lady pumpkin I pictured yesterday.

In case you’ve grown bored with Plain Jane jack-o-lanterns, check out these eye-popping pumpkins, spotted at today’s Pumpkin Festival.

Those last three were my and Gary’s contribution to the cause: Gary’s “Go Astros” pumpkin, my fanged and angry smiley face, and Reggie’s “Woof!” For more festival pictures, check out Gary’s photoblog.

Although it’s always a challenge to shoot night-time digipix, last night I couldn’t help but take a handful of blurry shots from Community Night, the night-before Sneak Preview to Keene’s annual Pumpkin Festival.

Downtown was hopping all day yesterday and into the night as locals brought jack-o-lanterns by the bag-, cart-, and wagon-full to log-in stations where they were counted and registered: an essential step toward official World Record status.

Last night on the ground near every log-in station was a neatly arranged pool of carved pumpkins patiently waiting to be placed on the Main Street shelves that had yet to be built.

In Central Square, shelves that had been assembled by midday were filled by nightfall with as-yet-unlit jack-o-lanterns.

Many of Community Night’s jack-o-lanterns are provided by area businesses who truck in pumpkins for their employees to carve on company time: one small step to improved employee morale and a positive image in the community. If you’re a big corporation like FedEx, of course you have to prove that fact by prominently displaying a HUGE carved pumpkin surrounded by smaller “kids.”

Attracting tourists by the thousand to Keene, the annual pumpkin festival is a boon to area businesses, including Center Stage, the organization responsible for the event and its attendant merchandise.

Occurring as it does right before Halloween, both the Pumpkin Festival itself and the Community Night which precedes it attract a rather odd after-dark crowd.

Truth be told, the Pumpkin Festival is a family event, and everyone loves a mother and baby…even if the mother is a witch and the baby is a deformed demon.

Ultimately, the sight that garners the most Ooohs and Ahhhs at both the Pumpkin Festival and Community Night is that of the lit pumpkin towers in Central and Depot Squares. As one passerby remarked upon seeing the Depot Square tower, “I’ve seen it before, but I’m always amazed.” (Click on the image for an enlarged version, including a glimpse of the huge “Keene” pumpkin that tops the tower.)

As impressive as Community Night is, though, it’s only a dress rehearsal for today’s Real Deal. For as pumpkins glowed from those Central and Depot Square towers, hundreds of jack-o-lanterns–the fruit of Keene State College’s annual Pumpkin Lobotomy–lurked in the darkness outside the Clairvaux Center, waiting to be loaded onto scaffolds and shelves this morning.

For those of you craving “the rest of the story” about last night’s pumpkin proposal, this morning’s newspaper gave the happy details: the pumpkins spelling out that marriage proposal were carved by students in teacher Mark Martin’s fifth-grade class at the Franklin School. The object of Mr. Martin’s affection, Kathy Nelson, said “Yes.”