The Portage community came out by the dozens to walk a trail lined with pumpkins, ghosts, and holiday spirit. Hundreds of pumpkins were lining the illuminated trail following along the Iron Horse Heritage Trail. The Portage Fire Department and other members of the community set up displays and put out pumpkins. Saturday’s event is the fourth annual version of the event.
Several years ago, Portage Event Partnership (PEP) member Andrea Riley went on a trip to St. Louis with her husband when she was inspired by the Light Up the Gourds idea.
“Their Pumpkin Spooktacular is fantastic, and there's like over 5000 pumpkins," said Riley. It is in a park and it's probably about a mile long. They have a theme and it is beautiful. I wanted to bring something like that around here because I thought that it would be really cool for the kids to experience.”
What sets Light Up the Gourds apart from other events is that there was an emphasis on being all-inclusive. Special time was set aside for those with sensory needs and seniors.
“Our child has autism, so any sensory event is super appreciated,” said Michael Ewing. He had no issues. I think being still light outside was good for him as well. He had a great time.”
It was great for both people with sensory needs and just those who wished to see the trail while it was still light outside.
“I have done that from the beginning because we really wanted to have everybody enjoy it,” said Riley. “What the senior citizens like is when it is a little bit lighter. It's better for kids with sensory needs to do it when it's daylight.”
There were an estimated 250 pumpkins along the trail. People could carve their pumpkins to go along with this year’s theme, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" from the Peanuts episode. The first theme was Hocus Pocus done last year.
"The first couple of years we didn't have a theme, and then we thought that it might kind of help people in the carving process if we had a theme,” said Riley. “You certainly don't have to go with that but sometimes it's nice to have something to play off of.”
The carving of the pumpkins really allowed the Portage community to show off its artistic talents.
"I like the creativity of the pumpkins,” said Anthony Novetske. “Clearly, we have a lot of creative people who live in Portage because some of the pumpkins look really cool.”
This year’s event also had the theme of resilience. The event unfortunately had to be pushed back because of the weather. Yet, the timing could not have been more perfect being just over a week away from Halloween.
Once completing the trail, participants got to enjoy food trucks and mingle with friends. Kids were running around as groups waited for their turn to take a photo next to a Charlie Brown-themed stand.
“The community coming to this event has been super supportive,” said Riley. “We've had quite a few people who have come in the last couple of years. We love doing it.”
For more information on the City of Portage, please visit www.portagein.gov
