Pumpkins flung far in fundraiser for schools foundation

CHAMPAIGN – Wide-eyed 8-year-old Elijah Wasson of Champaign was awestruck as he saw a pumpkin soar overhead some 900 feet before splattering in a grassy field.

"Whoa!" he said as he gazed at the sky. "That was awesome!"

Elijah was one of more than 1,000 people who turned out Sunday afternoon at Pinehurst Fields in north Champaign for the first Champaign-Urbana Punkin' Chuckin' Challenge, a new fundraiser for the Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation. The foundation plans to hold the event annually.

Professional pumpkin launchers from Allentown-based Acme Catapult used a mechanical catapult to fire 30 pumpkins, all sponsored by area businesses, toward an old C-U Mass Transit District bus.

Two of the pumpkins actually struck the bus, with a round one sponsored by the East Central Illinois Building & Construction Council winning the trophy for landing closest to the center of the bus.

Radio personalities Diane Ducey and Tom Young from WHMS and WDWS led the crowd in a countdown before pumpkin launches, held every nine minutes to the sound of siren blares: "Three ... two ... one ... Launch that pumpkin!"

"I must admit doing punkin' chuckin' play-by-play is a new experience for me," Ducey said. "This is great fun."

Jessica Fermanian of Mahomet brought her bandanna-clad Labradoodle named Oscar with her to watch the pumpkins fly.

"I thought this would be something fun to do with my dog," she said. "Those pumpkins have some serious hang time!"

People on hand took part in a variety of other events, ranging from seed spitting to bean-bag tossing and pumpkin decorating.

In the latter event, participants had eight minutes to create pumpkins decked out as Superman, a witch, an Indian chief, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and other characters.

Gary Burgett of Champaign won first prize for a pumpkin decorated with a human face.

"The important thing was finding a pumpkin with a crooked stem that we could use for a nose," he said. "We used yarn for hair, and we put some cash on top of the pumpkin as a donation for the foundation."

The Champaign Central High School marching band was even on hand to perform for the spectators.

The spectacle raised some $5,000 for the foundation, an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to enhance Champaign-Urbana public schools, according to foundation Executive Director Gail Rost.

"We sold 25 pumpkins for adoption by corporations, and everything else was donated," Rost said. "I know that $5,000 doesn't sound like much, but that's a good target for a first-year event."

"Sure, we wanted to raise money," former foundation board member Phil Van Ness said. "But raising awareness for what the foundation does for the schools is just as important. Public schools need the public's support – and not just from tax dollars."

While this year's event focused on demonstrating the use of a single machine to launch pumpkins, Rost said she hopes the 2010 event will allow amateurs to build their own pumpkin-launching machines to compete against one another.

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