Pumped for pumpkins

CANYONVILLE — Along Main Street in Canyonville, hay bales and pumpkins line the sidewalks outside of storefronts. Scarecrows made out of straw greet customers.

The decorations are a sign the community is preparing for the first-ever Pumpkin and Music Celebration Saturday at Pioneer Park.

“I think the whole town is kind of getting excited,” said Michelle Muir, co-owner of the Feed Lot Family Restaurant, who has her business festively adorned.

The business with the best decorations will receive a $100 prize the day of the celebration. There will also be five bands performing and hay rides along with carved pumpkins, scarecrow, pie-eating, pumpkin weighing and seed-spitting contests.

Canyonville resident Patti McCollum came up with the idea for the celebration after being asked to oversee the city’s annual pumpkin weighing competition, which offers a $500 grand prize. She thought Canyonville needed more yearly festivities because Pioneer Days in August is the city’s only annual celebration.

“We want people to participate from all the surrounding communities,” McCollum said. The event is free.

McCollum thinks the celebration will help the community grow because it will add to the city’s appeal.

To figure out what types of activities would attract people of all ages, McCollum, a self-employed real estate investor, looked online at what other communities offered at their festivals. She then went to the community’s businesses and organizations with her ideas. Everyone was enthusiastic, she said, and she rounded up about 60 volunteers.

The majority of the event is paid for by contributions from local businesses and organizations.

“We put this together as a community,” said McCollum, who’s also a city councilor. “It really is a joint effort.”

On Saturday, attendees can tell their own three- to five-minute tall tales in a contest with the top three being chosen to share their stories on the main stage at Pioneer Park. They can enter a pumpkin cooking contest with homemade dishes and desserts. All entries must incorporate pumpkin or pumpkin seeds, and they’ll be judged by Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort chefs.

Those who participate in the cooking contest are asked to make a second entree for a bake sale. Money from the bake sale will offset the cost of the event and be set aside for next year.

Some funds also will be donated to Safe Place for Kids, an after-school program in South County. In addition, proceeds from a raffle will benefit Safe Place for Kids, which is hosting children’s activities at Saturday’s event. Wildlife Safari will have animals on display for the children.

Throughout the day, attendees will be able to listen to local bands Skeleton Crew, The Meadowlarks and Michael Fowler Band as they play the blues, bluegrass and classic rock, respectively. They can catch a performance by the Lisa Mandelstein Trio of San Francisco, which has performed folk music all along the West Coast. Businesses, private citizens and organizations sponsored the bands.

There will be a beer and wine garden serving fare from Champagne Creek Cellars in Roseburg, Wild River Brewery in Grants Pass and Deschutes Brewery in Bend.

At dusk, attendees will light jack-o’-lanterns, which they’re asked to bring with them.

To make the event annual, McCollum is working to set up a nonprofit organization, which could host it every year. She thinks planning for this year’s event has gone smoothly.

Pumpkin celebration glance Canyonville community members are hosting a pumpkin and music celebration on Saturday. All events are at Pioneer Park unless otherwise specified. <b>Contests </b> <b>10 a.m.</b> — Giant pumpkin weigh-in, Rogers Feed Store, 585 S.E. Main Street. $500 for first place, $250 for second place, $100 for third place. The youth with the largest pumpkin wins a $50 savings bond from Umpqua Bank. <b>10:30 a.m. to noon </b>— Carved pumpkin, scarecrow and pumpkin cooking contest registration and set-up. First prize for the pumpkin cooking contest is $75, the scarecrow contest, $100, and the carved pumpkin contest, $100. Second and third places will receive prizes such as gift certificates and gift baskets. <b>1:30 p.m.</b> — Tall tales contest, prizes announced at the event <b>2 p.m.</b> — Pie-eating contest, prizes announced at the event <b>2:30 p.m.</b> — Seed-spitting contest, prizes announced at the event <b>3 p.m.</b> — Awards ceremony <b>Music and Shows Noon to 1 p.m.</b> — The Meadowlarks, bluegrass <b>1 to 2:30 p.m.</b> — Lisa Mandelstein Trio of San Francisco, folk music <b>2:30 p.m.</b> — Wildlife Safari live animal show <b>3:30 to 5:30 p.m.</b> — Michael Fowler Band, top 40 country and classic rock <b>5:45 to 8 p.m.</b> — Skeleton Crew, blues music <b>Activities All afternoon</b> — Free hay rides <b>Noon to 4 p.m.</b> — Wildlife Safari animals on display <b>1 to 5 p.m.</b> — Kids activities <b>6:30 p.m.</b> — Lighting of hundreds of jack-o’-lanterns Information: Patti McCollum, 580-6083.

“I’m very, very proud of how all the citizens have pulled together to make this happen,” McCollum said.

Autumn Stevens, co-owner of Gordon’s Pharmacy, said she hopes the town becomes known for the celebration. The pharmacy is one of the main sponsors.

“Anything that is a yearly recurring event is an excellent idea,” she said.



• You can reach reporter Danielle Gillespie at 957-4202 or by e-mail at dgillespie@newsreview.info.