by Krissy Proctor
Copy Editor
From winsome and wacky costumes to engaging performances by Bryan “dance” groups, PumpkinFest both charmed and concerned students who spent their Halloween weekend tramping about a busy downtown Dayton with area locals.
For the fifth year in a row, MainStreet Dayton coordinated the event to offer children a safe alternative to traditional Halloween activities, according to board member Helen Spudich. The organization’s website says it is a group committed to creating “a district that is unique and remembered, a district which hosts seasonal events which capture the interest of our community.”
“We always start planning the next PumpkinFest as soon as the last one ends,” Spudich said. “We like to see people come downtown and have a good time.”
This year’s Friday and Saturday festivities included “Scary-oke” (karaoke) and pumpkin cooking contests, almost 60 craft and game booths, inflatables, hay rides and classic sidewalk trick-or-treating, as well as entertainment from local musicians and two Bryan groups, student-led Main Street Swing and the performing arts ministry Testify.
Main Street Swing is the official name of the swing dancing group that meets in Centennial Park Sunday evenings. They performed five improvised routines Saturday afternoon from such tunes as “Zoot Suit Riot” by the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and “The Devil is Bad” by the W’s, the latter of which included a much applauded “fight scene” between senior Steve Franklin and freshman Axel Barth.
“It was a lot of fun,” senior Rob Franklin said. “We were all very excited to be a part of it and hope to be a part of it more in the future.”
Testify, a PCI drama and stage movement team, performed selections with evangelistic messages Friday evening, including a dance set to the song “Set Me Free” by Casting Crowns.
“Normally, Halloween is more about all the evil in the world, but our performances brought out how having Jesus in our heart can change that about us,” said junior Testify member Chris Leary.
However, even with Testify’s message-filled performance, some students were disturbed by what they felt was the event’s lack of monitoring, especially during the costume contests.
“I was disappointed,” junior Kevin McEwen said. “There were a lot of costumes that were just not modest – and I don’t mean on the children. PumpkinFest is supposed to be a safe alternative for kids, not a party for adults.”
Other students say they enjoyed the wild costumes and new events immensely.
“PumpkinFest is great. I go every year, and it’s the highlight of my semester,” said senior Ericka Simpson. “I loved the new game booths this year. Ten of my friends and I spent almost $12 trying to win a bunny at one of them…and we got her! Her name is Pear and she’s freaking cute and very feisty. It was awesome.”
Pear the bunny is to be relocated to alumnus Ryan Smith’s house where the 10 friends will continue to rotate on taking care of her.
While McEwen agrees that many of the new events were good additions, he still holds that in the future PumpkinFest will have a few glitches to work out if it is to remain kid-friendly.
“Yeah, the electric bull was really cool,” he said. “But there were still some issues and all it seemed like was one step forward and three steps back.”