MILLERTON — The annual Pumpkin Smash is returning once again, this time as a collaboration between Millerton’s Climate Smart Task Force and North East Community Center.
Featuring a new and improved slingshot, this year’s Pumpkin Smash will take place at the former Millerton Elementary School grounds on Saturday, Nov. 7. The party is set to start at 2 p.m. and run until 4 p.m.
Kathy Chow, a member of Millerton’s Climate Smart Task Force, said the Pumpkin Smash promotes composting and reduces waste by providing a fun — and messy — way to dispose of leftover pumpkins after Halloween.
This year marks the first time the event is run as a collaboration between the Climate Smart Task Force and NECC. NECC Board Chair Irene Banning chimed in on the collaboration, saying it provided an opportunity for the nonprofit to host a community-wide celebration after years without anything similar.
“We think this is a fabulous partnership because we all live in this village and we all do work in this village,” Banning said.
The event’s focus is smashing pumpkins, turning them into a pulpy sludge that’s then taken to McEnroe’s Organic Farm on Coleman Station Road to rot into compost. Old and decaying pumpkins are loaded into a slingshot and launched into the distance, rupturing as they land in a pile of gourd flesh on the ground.
The slingshot this year is bigger and more powerful, Chow said. The new slingshot has four anchor points rather than just two, making the launch force stronger and allowing for a larger bucket for big pumpkins. Also on hand will be a large mallet for smashing by hand.
This is the third year Climate Smart has held the pumpkin smash. Previous events took place at Eddie Collins Memorial Park in Millerton, but construction has shuttered the park until next summer, prompting the group to find another venue for the event.
Along with pumpkin smashing, NECC Youth Program Director Brandon Wolfe will lead splatter painting for children. Banning said there will also be live music, hot cider and cookies for attendees.
The celebration also serves as a commemoration of NECC co-founder Sam Buselle. Buselle died in July at the age of 86. He helped found NECC in 1988 with the goal of bridging the gap in social services for Millerton and North East residents who live far away from the county seat in Poughkeepsie.
NECC took possession of the Millerton Elementary School property in 2024 after the property’s owners gifted it to the organization. Nonprofit leadership at the time said the property would eventually serve as the home of the NECC, but those plans have yet to fully materialize.
The Pumpkin Smash will take place rain or shine. Organizers have arranged for a large tent to provide shelter in the case of rain.
