By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Sherborn Library hosted some friendly competition throughout the month of October with their 5th Annual Jack-O-Lantern Competition. Twenty three families participated this year and each of the pumpkins were decorated in such fun, unique ways.
Families were able to pick up their pumpkins starting on October 10th through the 18th. These pumpkins were provided by the Friends of the Sherborn Library and given out on a first-come, first-serve basis. Everyone also had the option to buy a pumpkin of their own if they wanted to. Regardless of where participants got their pumpkins, the rules stipulated that there could only be one pumpkin registered per family.
Drop off for the decorated pumpkins happened on October 18th, 19th and 21st. Depending on when they originally received theirs, participants had anywhere from one to eleven days to decorate it for the competition.
Even if someone did not want to participate in the contest, all were welcome to come and view those who had entered and vote for their top three favorites. Viewing and voting happened on October 22nd-24th and was located on Weezie’s Patio outside the Children’s Wing. Those who wanted to vote were able to do so either by paper ballot or online. The Sherborn Library additionally stated on their website that the best viewing times for the jack-o-lanterns would be after sunset, around 5:50 pm each evening.
All of the 23 pumpkins in the competition were stunning to look at and super crafty. Amongst all of these, pumpkins #4 and #21 were decorated as Fairy Houses, pumpkin #3 was carved out as Mrs. Rachel, pumpkin #6 was painted as the Duolingo mascot, pumpkin #11 was carved and painted as a unicorn and pumpkin #18 included a pumpkin cat creature.
Perhaps the most intricately decorated pumpkin was that of #21: The Fairy House. It included golden glitter paint, moss, leaves, acorns, gnome house figurines, lights and more. Another big hit, especially for Harry Potter fans, was pumpkin #20 that was carved out as the Hogwarts Sorting Hat.
Those casting their vote certainly had a tough decision to make. This year’s winners included Pumpkin #21(Fairy House) in first place, Pumpkin #4 (Fairy Flower Shop) in second place, and Pumpkins #18 (De-Cat-pitated) and #10 (Patrick’s Pumpkin Party) tying for third place. The prizes for the top three winners included a gift card to Candy Cottage in Holliston and two big bags of candy.
When talking about this friendly competition with Teen Librarian Quincy Knapp, she stated, “People really seem to enjoy it each year. Every year we get about 20-25 families who are eager to participate. We don’t put any limits on decorations, we just want families to have fun with it. As a whole, we just really hope to continue this tradition every year for it really is a big hit with so many adults and kids within the community.”
