MAGICAL, MYSTERIOUS, MAGNIFICENT PUMPKINS                                                                                                  by Linda C. Lucarelli

            Ghosts and lanterns and pumpkins, Oh My!  Such is the scene every autumn in October at Barclay Brook and Brookside schools when parents and their children come together to carve pumpkins, share snacks, and spend some much needed quality time together.  This event is sponsored by the PTA and is a sell-out each year.  The normally hallowed evening halls of these two schools are instead bustling with activity.  The quiet is replaced with laughter; the dimness is replaced with the light of a hundred or so smiling, giggling faces.  Decorations of ghosts and ghouls and jack o’ lanterns are scattered about, lending to the theme of the night.  Each participant brings a hollow, clean pumpkin to decorate, “boo”tify, and transform into his/her own work of art.  After all the fun and excitement of accomplishing this, the newly created jack o’ lanterns are brought into the open parking lot that adjoins the two schools and are set aglow with candles.  What a magnificent and festive sight!  With a slight chill in the air, the rustling of the trees in the background, and the flickering of the pumpkins’ lights, it reminds you what a great time of year this really is.

In addition, this is also a wonderful way to raise money for the PTA which donates all of the night’s profit back into their budget in order to sponsor many programs for our children.  Through this activity and numerous others, the monies raised and the countless hours of service from its many volunteers provides our children with a vast array of cultural arts programs, assemblies, and special events.  Our children are our number one priority and we must focus on their education in order to ensure their success later in life.

This year’s Pumpkin Carving night will be held on Thursday, October 25^th at 6:30pm at both Barclay Brook and Brookside cafeterias.  As in the past, this event is a complete sell-out.  It just goes to prove that both parents and children like to have a frightfully fun time.

            So sit back, relax, and enjoy the silliest, scariest, spookiest holiday of the year.  And just remember, on October 25^th, if you turn off all your lights and listen real hard, you just may catch a glimpse of the flickering jack o’ lanterns and the giggling of its creators.  BOO!