MILLERTON — The third annual Pumpkin Smash drew the largest crowd yet for the Climate Smart Task Force’s composting promotional extravaganza.
About 50 people visited the field that used to house Millerton Elementary School’s playground equipment on Saturday, Nov. 7, braving a drizzling rain to join in bashing and flinging pumpkins. This year’s event marked the return of repeat partner McEnroe’s Organic Farm and a new collaboration with North East Community Center, which owns the former elementary school property.
The Climate Smart Task Force supplied the slingshot and wooden mallets, McEnroe’s brought some pumpkins to smash and NECC provided cookies, warm cider and live bluegrass music under the cover of a tent.
The main event, for the children at least, was the pumpkin smashing. Climate Smart Task Force member Andrew Stayman led the smashing effort with an improved version of his slingshot from last year.
Stayman’s improvements included adding two more elastic straps to form a more stable X-shaped configuration. The new configuration prevents the pot he uses to hold the pumpkins from twisting during launch, improving safety and consistency of the launches.
He used a winch to pull the slingshot basket back. After the bands are tight, one of the visiting children pulls a release switch and sends the pumpkin flying.
Then goes the retrieval crew — bands of children running in a mad dash after the flung pumpkin to pick up the broken pieces in a bucket and bring it back for further smashing with wooden mallets.
The mallets, made by Stayman and Millerton resident Henry Smedley, were also a new touch this year. They provided more hands-on smashing that proved a hit with parents as well as children.
The event doubled as a celebration of Sam Busselle, a Millerton resident who helped establish NECC. Inside the tent, while children were busy smashing pumpkins outside, NECC Board Chair Irene Banning and North East Town Supervisor Chris Kennan shared a few thoughts on Busselle’s legacy and a toast of hot cider to his memory.
“He gave us this sense that we should have a north star — we should have purpose,” Kennan said. “Sam’s contribution goes on today and tomorrow and on into the future.”
Climate Smart Task Force Coordinator Kathy Chow added to Kennan’s comments, saying sustainability and resilience are the task force’s guiding stars. She said composting was a pet project of the group, and encouraged attendees to start composting at home or to bring food waste to the McEnroe farm on Coleman Station Road.
“We as a town are unbelievably lucky to have a free drop-off,” Chow said. “Other communities spend a lot of time and effort trying to make that happen, but we have it right at McEnroe’s.”
Photo by Nathan Miller
Andrew Stayman, right, checks the launch angle of his slingshot just before letting a pumpkin loose to fly across the field. Stayman redesigned his slingshot this year, adding two additional elastic bands to stabilize the pot he uses to hold the launched pumpkins.
