Pepon, Pompon, Pompeon, Pumpkin!

From the Greek Pepon, to the French Pompon, and the British Pompeon; What DO they all have in common? All of these are different terms for George Washington’s favorite fruit, the incredible edible…

Pumpkin!

Ranging anywhere from less than a pound to over 1,000 pounds, this piece of produce can be boiled, baked, steamed, roasted, and most importantly, carved. Also, Pumpkins have three different color stages; first it would be green, and then it’s yellow, and finally orange signals the opportune time to carve. Pumpkin carving took place on the 28th and 29th of October for those that signed up ahead of time, via sign up sheet or Ms. DeMeo.

“Kos was actually relating the pumpkin price rise to a way of exemplifying supply and demand,” said Ms. Meister started off with a visual running start; apparently she wanted to get the worst of the pumpkin news off her chest first. “It was quite expensive, ever since the price of pumpkins doubled virtually everywhere,” she stated.

And while last year one group of students got 2 days of carving, this year it branched out to TWO groups of students getting two separate days. This means that student carvers have about 4 and a half hours of putting an image on the face of this pumpkin.

“Any image that won’t be deeper then 2 inches, anyways,” said self-proclaimed virtuoso Derek Hoying. When found, he was beating the squash like it owed him him money or something, and yet he was still able to explain his finesse with the small knives.

Jackie Cimarusti added, “It’s a great way to get stress out.”

While it may seem tiring, Ms. DeMeo explained that on the whole, it was a lot more time consuming then it actually was tiring. “I’ve only been going at this pumpkin for… 4 hours?” she told me.

Pumpkin carving IS an art, like it or not. If you’re a newbie learning the ropes or a veteran looking for another round, remember the three simple words Amber Wren used to talk about the pumpkins.

“Dirty, itchy, fun,” Wren said.

By: Kevin Bazarek