Friday, October 31, 2008
Yes, it is October 31st, and you know what that means...
Pumpkin Carving Party!
2006: Inaugural Competition
The first Pumpkin Carving Party was in 2006 and saw some mixed results. Marvin Keene, making everything as much of a competition as possible, stole the show with his carving winning the 1st Place ribbon!
(...rumors were running wild after the competition that Dr. Keene had gone through twenty-something pumpkins in the days leading up to the big event, but our investigation turned up no hard evidence other than a few rotting seeds that the suspect claimed must have been 'blown in' from Kroger down the street...)
The last place prize went to J. Kay Keels who was carving her first pumpkin ever! This raised the eyebrows of the competition committee at first, given that Keels' biography claimed she grew up in a podunk town somewhere in South Carolina with a population of about 12 people or so. How could this individual go through life without carving a pumpkin? The committee was skeptical to say the least and feared they were going to be taken by a hustler...
...until they saw the end product.
Nope. She's never carved one! In fact, it was wondered whether she had ever even seen a carved pumpkin. Or a pumpkin at all! Or used a knife before!
Yeah, well you see why this effort won this prize:
Mmmm...Vienna sausage in a can! Scrumptious!
2007: 2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving Competition
In 2007 everyone knew the talent would be taken up a notch after the Keene exhibition the year prior. The Keene's were the odds on favorites to take the top spot once again, but this time Brandon came armed with his newly purchased Dremel...
...if only he knew how to use it. While butchering the pumpkin he was working on, he proceeded to distract the competition with shards of pumpkin shell and guys flying every which way (in fact, we are still finding pieces of pumpkin a year later).
New to the competition were Ken and Erika Small, who had just arrived at Coastal Carolina University several months earlier. Given that - like Marvin - Ken was a finance professor, hopes were high for him. Oh, how we were so sorrily mistaken. It turns out that Ken was apparently too much of a finance professor, which was apparent from this effort:
That said, this result was much to Kay Keels' delight, as she would no longer be known for having the worst carved pumpkin in history. And like Kay, Ken is also a podunk South Carolina native...is anyone else seeing a pattern here? Ken's losing effort was determined via a tiebreaking system after his level of pumpkin ineptitude was matched by Yoav Wachsman. Yoav did not grow up in South Carolina...he grew up in Israel...he has an excuse.
The prize?
Mmm...mmm...pure sardine goodness! (Well, Ken's cats -- Calvin, Hobbs and Baby Kitty liked it at least)
The winning pumpkin was carved by none other than the party's host, Barbara, who was greatly deserving of the honor. This too was a close call, but Barb's ended up taking home (staying home with?) the prize. She looks to retain her distinction as 'best pumpkin carver' tonight at 7:30 -- only this time the pressure is on...she's carving for one and a half, of course!
Bset of luck to everyone. May the pumpkin guts go flying and the cans of sardines in tomato sauce be plentiful!
