100TH CIRCLEVILLE PUMPKIN SHOW UPDATE

The rumor has been confirmed! The Circleville Pumpkin Show Committee is proud to announce that The Ohio State University Marching Band is scheduled to make an appearance Thursday, Oct. 19th in the Parade of Bands. The band will be presented by the Defenbaugh-Wise-Schoedinger Funeral Home. The 224 member band will also perform a short concert immediately following the parade on Pickaway Street.

Click here for a larger image. In commemoration of the 100th Celebration of the Circleville Pumpkin Show, nationally renowned muralist and Circleville native, Eric Henn, has begun to transform the Johnson Building at 116 E. Main Street into a 56’x36’ work of art. The Mural Committee is pleased to announce that there is still time for you or your business to participate in their efforts. Donations of any denomination can be made by contacting Amy Elsea of the Pickaway County Chamber of Commerce and all donations are tax-deductible. The “Mural Ribbon Cutting” will be Thursday October 19th at 5:30 p.m.

Press Release from June 6, 2006 It’s hard to believe the 100th Anniversary of the Circleville Pumpkin Show is less than five months away. The Volunteers have been working hard in planning this event since Oct. 2005. You can find them all over town working on projects, and meeting with people who can help. Barry Keller, Vice President of Pumpkin Show, Inc. and “point man” for the event states that, “The volunteer effort is nothing short of amazing. Many of these caring individuals take vacation time from their jobs to help out with the show. Without their support, the Pumpkin Show would not be possible.” In addition to the 25 committees, of over 250 volunteers that usually work on the show, a new 100th Pumpkin Show Committee has been formed to commemorate this special occasion. Chaired by Nanisa Osborn, the 100th Pumpkin Show Committee has been meeting monthly since October. The Committee has divided into sub-committees with specific concentrations to make the best use of our volunteers’ time and skills. The committees were formed based on celebration ideas suggested at our first meetings. The 45 active committee members have already devoted many hours of work into putting ideas together, planning budgets, and in some cases executing those ideas. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Nanisa at 477-2156 The Pumpkin Show Committee is getting ready to paint the town orange for the “four fun- filled days of family entertainment”, October 18th through the 21st! There will again be a Tuesday night preview from 5-10pm. The Pumpkin Show Committee and the entire community want this show to be special! However, the costs of these special events can be excessive. Each committee has been charged with raising funds or obtaining a supporting sponsor to cover the cost of their committee. We invite you to be a part of the 100th Celebration. We are seeking sponsors for many of the special activities for the show. If you or your business would like to sponsor an event, Eric Clark is chairing the Corporate Sponsorships Committee to help raise funds to offset the 100th Celebration expenses. Anyone wishing to help should contact Eric at 740-474-6333. Another exciting opportunity for Pickaway County residents is the chance to win his/her portrait to be included in the mural. Raffle tickets will be $25 and one lucky winner will actually have themselves immortalized in the mural to be seen by hundreds of thousands of people! Tickets went on sale Monday, May 5 and you can purchase your ticket by contacting the Chamber of Commerce at 474-4923 or stop in at 135 W. Main St., in Circleville. The number of entries for the Giant Pumpkin contest has been on the rise with 35 last year! Dr. Bob Liggett, current record holder at 1353 pounds, has said he expects at least 10 pumpkins over the elusive 1,000 pound mark for this year’s event! The 338th Army Band will be here in concert and other special entertainment is planned including a McGuffey Lane Concert at the West Main St. Stage Tuesday Evening. Design for the pie pan to bake the largest pumpkin pie in Ohio (rumored to be approx. 14ft.) has been completed. The design for the oven to bake the pumpkin pie is complete and with some help from our friends in several businesses we are on our way to having it constructed. With help from Lindsey’s Bake Shop we learned the largest pumpkin pie would take 132.3 pounds of sugar, 22 pounds of powdered milk, 22 gallons of water, 44 pounds of eggs, pounds of spices, and lots and lots and lots of PUMPKIN. Mix and bake at 350 degrees for 10 hours. Cool and move from the shelter house at Ted Lewis Park to downtown Circleville before the crowd arrives! Donations are still being accepted for this project through June 1st. Contact person is Paul Woods at 740-601-0563. Sixty-One former queens have been invited to join us in this magical celebration with 44 already committing. They are coming from all over the United States to be here. The Citizens Bank and Savings Bank have agreed to sponsor the Past Queen’s events. The new 100th Anniversary Banners for downtown Circleville have arrived and should soon be flying from downtown light poles for all to see. Jo Liggett and Kathryn Berrigan have taken on the monumental challenge of producing a Pumpkin Show History Book. Copies will hopefully be available during the show. The Memorabilia display has found a secure home at the new Pumpkin Show Building on Pickaway Street and the committee has begun to seek out memorabilia for the display. Jerry Ayers, known as the World’s Fastest Pumpkin carver will return to the Pumpkin Show according to Risa Varasso, Executive Director of the Pickaway County Visitor’s Bureau. He will be attempting to create a World Record of carving 100 pumpkins in record time. The Contest Committee has come up with many games for kids and this should be a fun new event for the show. To light up the Wednesday evening sky, the Fireworks Committee has found a place to set off the display. They have consulted the Fire and Police Chief for the appropriate permits and safety considerations. Now all they need is someone willing to sponsor the display! If interested contact Chad Conley at 740-412-1633. The 100th Committee is working with the Longaberger Company to create a unique basket for our special anniversary. ArtsAround has found the artists to create “100 Pumpkins of Pickaway II” to raise money for the Pickaway County Community Foundation. These original pumpkin works of art will be available for sale in Downtown Circleville during the show. The vocal talent contest will return this year and is being called “Stand Up and Sing!” The primary sponsor is Amity Home Health Care with the River 104.9 as the secondary sponsor. The contest will be held on Thursday afternoon at 1:00 pm on the West Main Street Stage. Preliminary auditions will be held on Saturday, August 19th at the Nazarene Church. The Media Committee is working on having a web cam for the event so the whole show will be streaming live on the Internet, but a sponsor is still needed. The rulebooks are printed and the web site is being updated. The House Decorating Contest with a Pumpkin Show Theme will be chaired by Bob Mabe of the Circleville Apothecary, who started this new tradition last year. Anyone interested can contact the Circleville Apothecary at 740-420-3784 or stop by 1200 N. Court St. for complete rules and details. The Pumpkin Show would like to thank Bob for handling this new addition and for donating all the prizes. In celebration of the 100th anniversary, the Baked Goods Dept. of the Pumpkin Show is offering a special contest to Past Grand Champion and Champion Pumpkin Pie winners. The rules and regulations will follow those for the regular contest. One Grand Champion winner will receive a silver tray and $100 from Pumpkin Show, Inc. Pre-entries are encouraged and may be made by calling Linda Ballou, Baked Goods Trustee, at 740-474-8973. There will be Special Divisions for Floats, Flower Show, Home Arts & Crafts commemorating the 100th Show. We are excited about the possibilities for this 100th event. We look forward to celebrating the history and the magic of Pumpkin Show.

Pumpkin Show Committee Update from May 2006 The 100th Pumpkin Show Committee began its work at an organizational meeting on October 5, 2005 and we have been meeting monthly since that time. The Committee has divided into sub-committees with specific concentrations to make the best use of our Volunteers’ time and skills. The Committees were formed based on celebration ideas suggested at our first meetings. The 45 active Committee members have already devoted many hours of work into putting ideas together, planning budgets, and in some cases executing those ideas. The Committees The Largest Pumpkin Pie Chaired by Paul Woods this committee has been dedicated to building the oven, making the pie pan, and mixing and baking the largest pumpkin pie to bring this distinction back to the Circleville Pumpkin Show. Donations of the block for the oven, propane, and ingredients are currently being solicited and some area businesses have committed to help. The Past Queens We have invited all former Pumpkin Show Queens to be our guests October 21, 2006, for Brunch at the Trinity Lutheran Church - Noecker Hall, sponsored by the Citizens Bank of Ashville. They are to be recognized at the Pickaway County Pavilion from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., on East Franklin Street. A hospitality room will be provided by Defenbaugh Wise Schoedinger Funeral Home before the Saturday night parade for the queens only. The Savings Bank is the sponsor of the past queens’ floats. The builder of the floats is Carl Manson. We have seventy-one former queens; ten of which are deceased. The remaining sixty-one queens have been invited to attend. The Miss Pumpkin Show contest was added for the 1933 show. There was no Pumpkin Show held in 1942 and 1943 because of the war. Lucille Heise Radcliff was the first Miss Pumpkin Show in 1933. She was Miss Circleville. We have had six queens from Amanda Clearcreek, twenty from Circleville, sixteen from Logan Elm, five from Teays Valley, twenty from Westfall and four from Zane Trace. We have queens living in the following states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina and Texas – one each, Kentucky, New York, South Carolina and Tennessee – two each, Florida - three and Ohio - forty-one. Past and present pictures of all former queens will be on display at Micro Systems, 134 North Court Street. All past queens’ pictures are compliments of Ellery Elick. We are looking forward to seeing all of our former queens. Fireworks If we are able to raise funding, Premier Pyrotechnics has agreed to send us off in a big way on Wednesday at 7 PM. Prime viewing will be at the West Main Street Stage. Chair Chad Conley is coordinating the land owner permission and security for the event. Both the Fire and Police Chief have been consulted for the appropriate permits and safety considerations. The History Book and Memorabilia Display Jo Liggett and Kathryn Berrigan have taken on this challenge. Mrs. Liggett is writing the history and Kathryn is working with Jo and the Historical Society to coordinate a display. Jo and Kathryn would like to hear from anyone who has memorabilia they are willing to share during the show. Plans include a secure location for the display. Souvenirs/Banners Valerie Sanzoni, Marsha Sturgell and Tammie Wooten divided up the duties and started calling. They have planned for 75 Banners to be displayed in downtown Circleville from early in the year announcing the 100th and adding more as we get closer to October. Working with Pumpkin Show Media Trustee Jim Parker they have developed the logo to be used for the Banners. They have received suggestions for Vintage Souvenirs and continue to seek interesting souvenir options that will be particular to the 100th Pumpkin Show. Contests and Photo Spot Dawn Meyers and crew are working on contests to run during the Pumpkin Show for children and adults alike. They have begun pulling together their ideas. In addition, they are coordinating a Photo Spot at the Pumpkin Tower to allow visitors to the Show to pose for the favorite shot of pumpkins on display.