Jensen Pumpkin Festival - October 2011

By: Angela Hanberg

    Come one come all to the 15th Annual Great Pumpkin Festival! What started out as a small community get-together has now become one of Uintah Basin's greatest annual events. It all began in 1996, the Split Mountain Garden Center brought together friends and family for a bonfire with free cider, cookies and marshmallows to enjoy the company and check out each other's pumpkin carving skills. Attendance was around 250 folks and about 90 pumpkins.
    The numbers grew pretty steadily and in 1999 they estimated about 160 pumpkins and 1000 onlookers and two years later were up to 300 pumpkins and 2000 people. The crowd quickly outgrew the venue and in 2003 used funds from previous festivals to expand the Jensen Park to include walking paths and a new parking lot.
    One only has time to get out of their car before being caught up in the spirit of the festival. It seems the entire community comes together to brave the beginning of the cold nights of fall. The live music from Lamar Farnsworth's band, Lamar & Co., can be heard before you even reach the park. The enormous
bonfire shares its warmth with the dozens who stand around it, hot chocolate and cider in hand. Along the walking paths are pumpkin displays that would make famed sculptures stop and take a second look. As we fight the crowds to get the best view of each one, we hear voices yell out, "Ooooh! That's my favorite! No wait, THAT one! No, wait...." I never knew the joy of carving an intricate pattern into a slimy squash till the year after my first visit to the festival. I went right home and started planning for the next year thinking 'surely if they can do it, so can I!' I was wrong. That was not the case, and my children still have a lot more faith in my skills than I do.
    For those members of the community who are a bit more artistic than myself, anyone and EVERYONE is invited to share their carvings at the festival. It is open to families, businesses, schools or individuals. The more the merrier. Displays are judged in two categories: Best In Show is chosen by the committee members and then there is the public's Popularity Vote.
    Is your baby going to be donning a plush pumpkin costume for Halloween this year? Why not put them in a real one and compete in the "Our Lil Pumpkin" photo contest. Just carve a pumpkin big enough for your little one, dress them up to match the theme, coax them into the pumpkin and take a picture to submit at the festival. Or better yet, bring everything with you and let the festival's photographer take the picture for you! Photos are only $4 and will be mailed to you when they are printed after the event. Submissions will be taken between 6pm-7pm that night with judging at 8pm and winners announced around 8:30pm. Winners do not need to be present to win! The only catch - pumpkin tots can not be older than 18 months.
    Other fun activities that night include: a trike run through an obstacle course for 2-7 year olds, a pumpkin catapult for 8-years and older (which is also in need of pumpkin donations so they have something to hurl,) hay maze, haunted horse trailers, candy pond, live music, bonfire, concessions and the list goes on.
    Actually getting to the festival can prove to be a big challenging for some so it doesn't hurt to get creative. There are actually three different routes to take from Vernal and the committee asks that we take advantage of the road less traveled if and only if we know the way. Besides Hwy 40 from Naples, you can also get there on the Brush Creek road - past the dump, take a right and follow it around to Jensen. You can also turn south off Hwy 40 at Split Mountain Travel (the new truck stop on the way to Jensen.) Just don't get lost - there's always the Bluebell Corn Maze for that!

Great community events could not be made possible without great community support. The Jensen Festival committee would like to thank all who support this great event. For inquiries regarding contests, donations, volunteering, etc., please contact Monica Farnsworth at 435-790-3481 or Christy Thacker at 435-789-8391. This year the Jensen Pumpkin Festival will be held on October 28th from 6-9 PM.