"FLY ME TO THE MOON" PUMPKIN CONTEST
The 2019 Harvest Daze Pumpkin Contest theme of "Fly Me
to the Moon" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first steps
on the moon, July 20, 1969. We received 17 entries from very creative
decorators, including a green alien, moon landings, representations of the
cosmos and even all the characters from “Hey! Diddle, Diddle.” Jessica Runner,
a genealogy volunteer helped us man the tent both days.
Beautiful weather made the weekend very enjoyable for our
enthusiastic visitors. We had over 400 voters deciding the contest winners.
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| VOTING JARS |
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| PRESIDENT'S CHOICE |
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| PICK OF THE PATCH |
Visitors voted for a favorite pumpkin in each of four
categories, then cast a vote for the best pumpkin overall.
Pictured on the left, the President's Choice, honoring the pumpkin showing the best use of the theme went to Addyson Chandler, Onarga with her Big Dipper and cosmos pumpkin #403. Her prize was two movie tickets to the Onarga Theater.
Winning the "Pick of the Patch" this year was Clara Runner, Milford with her big green alien at the right.
Category 100 was Youth Carved, for those 12 years old and younger. Winner was Callen with his pumpkin, #101.
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| 1ST YOUTH, CARVED |
Category 200 was Youth Painted/Decorated, for those 12 years old and younger.
1st place – Makennah with her beautiful “Fly Me to the Moon” #204.
2nd place – Clara with the big green alien #201.
3rd place – Nathan with his white rocket ship #209.
4th place – Kinley painting Earth and rocket ship #208.
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| FIRST, YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| SECOND, YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| THIRD, YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| FOURTH, YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
Category 300 was Carved for those 13 and older.
1st place – Alyssa Alvarez with surprise witch on the moon
#301.
2nd place – Aubrey Wagner with carved rocket ship #302.
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| FIRST ADULT, CARVED FRONT |
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| FIRST ADULT, CARVED BACK |
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| 2ND ADULT, CARVED |
Category 400 was Adult Painted/Decorated for those 13 and
older.
1st place – Addyson Chandler with Big Dipper and cosmos
pumpkin #403.
2nd place – Ginny Lee with “Hey! Diddle, Diddle” nursery
rhyme #401.
3rd place – Aubrey Wagner with black rocket and moon #402.
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| FIRST, ADULT PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| SECOND, ADULT PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| THIRD, ADULT PAINTED/DECORATED |
Category 600 was Organization or Group Painted/Decorated.
1st place – Iroquois Federal with romantic touch #601.
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| FIRST, ORGANIZATION PAINTED/DECORATED |
Another contest was guessing the weight of the Apollo 11
crew of “pumpki-nauts.” The actual total weight of "pumpki-nauts" Neil Armstrong,
Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins was 72 pounds, 13 ounces. Winning the $10 prize
was Bart Koester, Watseka with a near perfect guess of 72 pounds, 8 ounces!
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| APOLLO 11 PUMPKI-NAUTS |
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| APOLLO 11 -ARMSTRONG, COLLINS, ALDRIN |
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| ROCKET TO THE MOON |
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| MISSION PATCH |
We had one family who dressed for the occasion in NASA t-shirts.
All other entries are shown below. You can understand why
some votes were difficult to make. What were you doing when Neil Armstrong first
stepped on the moon on July 20, 1969?
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| YOUTH, PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| YOUTH, PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
