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Bergland family to carve and light 317 pumpkins for Halloween
Tue, 2006-09-26 00:00
Ken Johnston
Editor
If your favourite holiday is Halloween, then you have something in common with Kim and Richard McKenzie of Bergland, Ont.
They have grown 317 pumpkins and plan to carve, sculpt and illuminate all of them on their property along Highway 621, just south of Bergland.
Kim, who’s birthday happens to be on October 31st said the idea started several years ago when Dr. Ewen Affleck encouraged her to take up giant pumpkin growing. While she started with that hobby it slowly transformed into mostly growing field pumpkins, albeit 11 of the 317 this year are Giant Atlantic Pumpkins.
Utilizing two pumpkin patches this year, one that is 75’ X 100’ and another that is 30’ X 100’, they had a record harvest this year. The couple has two sons, 11 and 8 years of age and together it took them four days of carving to do 106 three years ago. They aren’t sure how long it will take to do 317 but, “We will get them done,” said Kim.
While they have asked others to come and help them, they rarely have any takers as they stipulate the pumpkins have to stay and be part of their display after they are carved.
The first year they tried to light them up using candles but the wind played havoc with that idea, so now they use Christmas lights.
At present all the pumpkins are in their dining room, with all the furniture moved out. “We get frost so early in this spot,” said Kim, “That we had to pick them all two weeks ago.”
Some of them have scars from the mice trying to eat them and one even has bear claw marks on it.
Keeping them until Halloween is a challenge. “We will have some spoilage,” said Richard, but if they left them outside they would have little if any left to carve for the holiday.
So why Halloween, other than it being her birthday? Kim says, “Halloween is less commercialized than other holidays. Simply it is just a fun holiday.” She also believes every costume should be homemade and has dressed her sons as such every halloween. She herself will fittingly be dressed as a giant pumpkin this year.
The McKenzie’s really enjoy watching the kids faces as they come into the driveway to explore the pumpkins. “Some parents have to chide their kids to hurry up as they are so fascinated by them.”
“For me this is like candles on birthday cake. Mother Nature is my birthday cake,” said Kim.
They will turn the lights on for the first time on Halloween at dark and will light them back up for a couple more days afterwards. “We hope many people come out and enjoy them. We just wish it would last longer.”
Kim said that every pumpkin has a different face. “I love looking at each one and figuring out what its face will look like once we carve it.” She loves pumpkins so much that she even had her husband paint her Dodge Neon “Pumpkin Orange.”
While some people have said their giant jack-o-lantern event is a waste, both Kim and Richard disagree. “It is not a waste to me. It makes me and a lot of people very happy,” said Kim. She said she spends about $80 on seeds and the rest is the work of maintaining the patches.
A few years ago during the flood Kim was in tears as her entire patch went under water. “We had to lift every pumpkin out of the water and set them on blocks,” said Richard.
Plans for next year include expanding their pumpkin patches again. While they do not think they have reached their carving capacity yet, they feel that if they ever do they will look at giving their excess away. For now they are sharpening their main carving tools, a set of paring knives and getting ready to tackle all 317.