Forget the pie, an Okotoks group is collecting pumpkins for one reason: to smash.
The Okotoks Optimist Club is hosting its first annual Pumpkin Chunkin’ event at Country Living and Garden Centre at Highway 7 and Southridge Drive on Oct. 19 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“This has been a brain child of mine for about eight years now, I’ve been wanting to bring it to Okotoks,” said event organizer Brad Pond.
He saw a similar event on a television show once, and took to Google to find out more about it.
The event will see pumpkins of all shapes and sizes launched into the air by handmade machines like trebuchets, catapults, pneumatic cannons and centrifuges, he said.
“This year will be more of an exhibition-type event, we’re just going to have a few entries, mostly done by us,” said Pond.
He said it will be fun for the whole family to come out, buy a pumpkin, paint it up and watch it fly through the air.
All proceeds go to charity, he said. Though the Optimist Club hasn’t identified its event beneficiary, he said the club mandate is to support community youth. They are currently painting the youth room at the Okotoks Recreation Centre, he said.
Anyone who would like to build a machine is welcome to contact the Optimists through their Facebook. Machines must be submitted by Friday, Oct. 18 to be checked over for safety before the event, he said.
Initially the idea was to host a competition and charge machine entries $150 each, but the club decided to make it more of a spectator sport at no charge to enter for this year, he said.
“What we’re hoping for over time is to build up some friendly rivalries throughout town, maybe pit businesses against businesses to get some good friendly rivalries in the name of charity for children,” said Pond.
Optimist member Guy Giroux is trying his hand at building a trebuchet for the first time. The final product should be about eight feet tall with an eight-foot arm, he said.
He said he’s never done anything like this before, but with a construction background he figured it couldn’t be too difficult.
“I got some ideas online, but I already kind of know how they’re built and the mechanism and engineering behind them,” said Giroux.
For more information on the event or club check out Okotoks Optimist Club on Facebook.
