Every year, families, college students and Keene residents fill Main Street to celebrate Pumpkin Fest with one another. This year, 30,581 pumpkins were carved, lit and placed along the center of town, according to event organizers. But what happens to these pumpkins after? Who brings Main Street back to its original status that community members recognize? This is where Pumpkin Dump Derby comes into play.
“The faster we can return downtown Keene to its normal look, the better,” Jessica Gagne Cloutier, Coordinator for Community Services at KSC, said.
There are two reasons for this.
Brian Cantore/ Photo Editor
One: the longer the pumpkins are there, the more likely they are to be of vandalism interest.
Two: as long as the festival isn’t cleaned up, Let It Shine Inc. must pay thousands of dollars an hour to keep law enforcement downtown, Gagne Cloutier explained.
“And, of course, people love a clean downtown and not left over pumpkins everywhere,” Gagne Cloutier stated.
Rachael Dignitti, a Keene resident, said she noticed how fast the clean-up was this year.
“I had no idea how they got everything cleaned so fast. The transformation was so quick,” she said.
The derby is a big fundraiser opportunity for KSC, Gagne Cloutier stated.
Local bars donate thousands of dollars so this festival can happen annually.
Some of the money that is collected is set aside for prize money.
During the event, there are 13 teams, 13 referees and 13 territories to be cleaned. Every team that finishes cleaning their territory receives $100 to their cause, and the winner receives $1,000 for their cause.
Jay Laford, Director of Public Relations for Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, said that Gagne Cloutier had contacted its fraternity to inform them there was one spot left for the derby contest. “We said we wanted to take it,” Laford said. “It’s nice to be out in the community interacting with people; we met a lot of parents and kids that loved helping us. The money we got is going to St. Jude Research Hospital so we’re really looking forward to that,” he added.
Gagne Cloutier said the event is pretty new and was a brainstormed idea from local firemen in 2011. “Normally it takes them until Sunday morning to get everything cleaned up. If we made it a race and got to earn money for their cause, it might get things done faster,” she said.
This derby uses a first-come, first-serve policy. It can be a community team or KSC team. For example, Gagne Cloutier lists UPS as a team, Psi Sigma Phi and Honors Program as some of the teams that participate. She also said they get to choose whichever cause they want to raise money for. “It’s nice to put the money back into the communities’ organizations that everyone has fun and enjoys,” Gagne Cloutier stated.
Brian Cantore / Photo Editor: Maintenance staff prepares for the Pumpkin Fest Dump Derby.
Lauren Casey, a KSC student, said her group, National Association for Music Educators, donated their winnings to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation which is organized to restore music programs in local public schools.
“We were super excited. It was so much fun, and we helped other teams clean once we were done. We finished our area in thirty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds and then spent the rest of the time helping other teams out.”
Laford added that they were actually doing trash detail all day, getting trash off the streets while trying to help the city manage the waste.
“Over the course of the day we had about thirty members and maybe fifteen at the derby. [The event] started becoming about the city getting clean instead of competing against each other,” he said.
Gagne Cloutier said she thinks KSC is hoping to take the top prize this year against local community teams. Every zone is estimated to have 3,000 pumpkins that need to be cleaned up. Each team can have up to 30 teammates. Each team can also use tools if they wish, wheelbarrows, carts, wagons, just no motorized vehicles or electronics, Gagne Cloutier added.
“Use your hands or use a few tools. We just need the compost in the dumpsters as fast and safe as possible,” she said.
Brian Cantore / Photo Editor: A bucket were pumpkin carvers would place the guts.
Waste management brought the containers Friday morning, positioning all the dumpsters in the territories Gagne Cloutier said. The territories ran along Main Street, Central Square and Railroad Square. The derby started at 8:45 p.m. Last year she said they had 19,000 pumpkins removed by 9:15 p.m. “The derby has a lot of potential,” she said.
Casey stated that she thinks she would participate again. “I’m planning on staying on the e-board and bringing it up again. Our team had a lot of fun, we hung out after with friends and it was nice to do something for the community. A couple of kids were having fun helping me out. At one point we thought of a way to maybe go faster, so we made a big line and kept handing pumpkins off to each other,” she said.
Gagne Cloutier said she remembers once the derby started it was so loud, “but in a cool productive way,” she said. She mentioned, “It was the one time you can smash pumpkins and not get yelled at. You know that exciting feeling you people get when they smash a plate? I got that little energy boost when I threw a pumpkin knowing it was okay. I loved it and police [were] watching. Once the speakers say you can start, everyone starts running, laughing, throwing pumpkins through the air. It really is doing something really good to benefit a lot of people.”
She said the referees are the men’s basketball team from KSC. She also said the community service staff and basketball coaches are there to supervise and announce who wins.
Gagne Cloutier also said that, “Fortunately, there is a lot of planning that goes into the festival. There are announcements made by police telling people to stay back so they don’t get hit by pumpkins. There’s a ton of people that help to make it possible. It’s super fun. If you know you want to join next year, get in touch with me at the community service office on campus.”
Bethany Ricciardi can be contacted at bricciardi@keene-equinox.com