With Halloween now in the rearview mirror, the issue of what to do with those used pumpkins was addressed Friday afternoon at McCleery Elementary School in Aurora at the two-hour Pumpkin Smash event.
Melissa Tejeda of Aurora and her granddaughter Aly Rose, 5, watched as their family pumpkin went hurtling through the air at the event, which focused on recycling the remains of the jack-o’-lanterns.
“I thought this was a good idea to have a recycling effort here, and this was a fun way to get rid of our pumpkin,” Tejada said. “I like the recycling effort. I’m most definitely for it and this is a good lesson for my granddaughter.”
Representatives from the University of Illinois Extension met at the school at 1002 W. Illinois Ave. to help turn the pumpkins into material to be composted rather than having them rest in landfills. Experts say the pumpkin remains can fortify the soil.
Master gardeners and naturalists were on hand at the Pumpkin Smash to offer tips and information about pumpkin recycling and there were a number of other activities as well including games and face painting.
Christine Birns, educator for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education, said this was the first year the university’s extension program was working with the school on a pumpkin recycling effort.
She said the program has worked with McCleery on other activities and has “also worked with the district as a whole as far as their school wellness policy, so we know that the school has been very interested in recycling and composting, but also the opportunity to learn more about food waste and how that will impact the environment as well.”
Birns said about 12 to 15 volunteers worked the event on Friday.
“We’re hosting several events other than pumpkin recycling including SNAP-ED offering some recipes on pumpkins and healthy options as well as composting demonstrations,” she said of Friday’s event. “The gardening club at the school is hosting some physical activity games as well as the university’s 4 H program will be there, so this is really an opportunity for all of our programs with extensions to really work together and offer a community-wide activity to Aurora.”
The actual pumpkin smashing offered a unique option thanks to one of the volunteers, who Birns said “made us a catapult ‘ where people could launch their pumpkins and watch them smash into the bottom of a dumpster.
“People have the opportunity to either catapult them into the dumpster or smash them in a way that they would like,” she said. “We’re trying things a little differently than in the past – more hands-on, with more composting and less food waste.”
Aly Rose elected to use the catapult option and said after seeing her pumpkin fly that “it was cool.”
“All I saw was the top go off,” she said. “I helped carve that pumpkin and I’m a little sorry it’s gone now.”
Diane Sondelski of Aurora was with her granddaughter at the event and said she also attended McCleery Elementary School.
“My daughter went to the school and now my granddaughter Leona Perry goes to this school,” she said while watching her granddaughter get a pumpkin painted on her face. “I think this catapult and the recycling is wonderful. It’s fun and I think recycling is a good lesson for kids.”
Leona, 10, said she liked the catapult “and also when they smash (pumpkins) with a sledgehammer too.”
“I’m in the garden club and we talk about the environment and stuff, and I’m also in my grandmother’s garden club. We plant things together,” she said. “My grandmother and I garden together all the time and we compost.”
McCleery teacher Alex Shaw, 34, of Aurora, had the job of loading and launching the catapult and said he was “still a bit in training.”
“I also run the We Care club after school where we try to teach the kids the importance of the environment,” he said.
He said working the catapult at the event was “awesome.”
“I have the best job by far,” he said. “I get to be the operator of fun.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
