Pumpkin Day in McCarren!

This year may have yielded a particularly tough season for the pumpkin crop, but you wouldn’t know it judging from Town Square’s 3rd annual Pumpkin Day festival in McCarren Park, which went off without a hitch last Saturday morning.
“Pumpkins this year were an absolute disaster,” said Susan Anderson, the founder of Town Square Inc. “Half of the pumpkins died on the vine, out in the fields, because of all the rain. Sugar pumpkins—the small ones—cost nearly six times as much as they did last year.”
That didn’t stop Pumpkin Day from being an absolute hit among community leaders, neighborhood residents, parents and children alike. With more than 600 pumpkins up for grabs, the afternoon turned into a frenzy of excitement, with children of all ages—many appropriately dressed in orange—rummaging through the patch to find the perfect pumpkin. Meanwhile, a live band provided the entertainment, in addition to the Parks Department’s brand new mobile unit equipped with interactive video games for kids. Even the likes of Councilmember Diana Reyna and Assemblyman Joe Lentol couldn’t resist stopping by the park for a pumpkin.
While last year’s Pumpkin Day celebration saw a few slight obstacles in terms of proper permitting, this year Anderson and the Town Square crew made sure to get all necessary permits in order to avoid any conflict with the Parks Department and Open Space Alliance. The result? An afternoon full of good old fashioned community fun.

“Look around you!” Anderson said with a smile. “It’s events like these that really manage to pull the community together, for something that’s just plain old fun.”
The event was made possible by a group of committed volunteers including representatives from the Greenpoint YMCA, People’s Firehouse and the Department of Parks and Recreation. In addition, Boro Recycling donated coloring books and crayons, while a representative from McDonald’s donated 200 paper bags. On Saturday, October 24th, Cooper Park in Southside Williamsburg will celebrate its very first pumpkin day.