Circleville Pumpkin Show

The Circleville Pumpkin Show is an annual festival dedicated to the pumpkin. The festival is typically headed up by local and national pumpkin growers to promote pumpkins. Although many states have pumpkin festivals, the largest of these is situated in Circleville, Ohio. The Circleville Pumpkin Show has been billed as "The Greatest Free Show On Earth".

Dates

The Pumpkin Show is held every 3rd Wednesday through Saturday in October, however, local citizens are encouraged to preview the festival on Tuesday. Rumors have persisted before the 2006 show about adding extra days for the 100th anniversary, but turned out to be unfounded; the show was held for the same four days as always.

Locations

Starting on the Saturday before the festival, work begins to restrict traffic in the downtown area of Circleville. The restricted areas dedicated to the show are from South Scioto Street on the west to Pickaway Street on the east, and Watt/Pickney Street on the north to Franklin Street on the south. More than 12 blocks are restricted by this event, which causes massive detours throughout a major portion of the city, including State Route 56 and U.S. Route 22. Due to the fact that there is no organized parking system, many small businesses and non-profit organizations provide parking for the throngs of people that attend this festival.

History

In October 1903, Mayor George Haswell decided to hold a small pumpkin & corn exhibit in front of his home to celebrate the harvest. This small exhibit featured corn, carved pumpkins and other harvest-themed displays. Because of the prominence of pumpkins in this first exhibit, the name "The Pumpkin Show" was then coined. In the following years local merchants were attracted to improve the size, scope and attendance of the festival. By 1905, riding attractions starting to be featured in the festival. Soon after, with the success of the shows, an annual festival was organized to be held on the city streets to attract merchants, patrons and improve the quality of the festival.

The Pumpkin Show has been held annually since 1903. Despite it still being held during the influenza outbreaks of 1918-1919, The Pumpkin Show was silenced for three years during World War II. Aside from this three-year gap, there have been no other recorded occurrences of the Circleville Pumpkin Show being halted - by snow, sleet, or scorching heat.

Traditions

Every year, Lindsey's Bakery creates the "world's largest" pumpkin pie. Visitors can be in line for over an hour to see the pie. At the 100th anniversary Pumpkin Show in 2006, the bakery had to make a much bigger pie compared to previous years as word had it that their world record had been broken for the biggest pie. The pie pan was so large that it was moved outside of the bakery window and into a tent out on the street. The previous record size pie remained in the bakery window and its size doesn't even come close what was revealed in 2006.

Another long-standing tradition of the Circleville Pumpkin Show is a pageant for Miss Pumpkin Show Queen, a tradition shared by more than a half dozen other pumpkin shows/festivals in various American states.

Several parades are held each day of the show. These parades feature performances by many local high school and middle school bands. The 2006 Pumpkin Show welcomed The Ohio State University's TBDBITL (The Best Damn Band in the Land) to play in their parade of bands, which is probably the most popular evening parade of the festival.

List of Miss Pumpkin Show Queens

1933: Queen Lucille Heise

1934: Queen Eleanor Anderson

1935: Queen Anne Thatcher

1936: Queen Dolly Riffle

1937: Queen Thelma Pyle

1938: Queen Ruth Fitch

1939: Queen Kathryn Martin

1940: Queen Gloria Wilson

1941: Queen DonnaMae McCune

(World War II hiatus)

1944: Queen Mildred Frazier

1945: Queen Pearl Roese

1946: Queen Patricia Love

1947: Queen Mary Woods

1948: Queen Beverly Huston

1949: Queen Patty Moats

1950: Queen Yvonne Flannery

1951: Queen Charlene Jackson

1952: Queen Wilma Jean Wilkinson

1953: Queen Ruth Ann Valentine

1954: Queen Judy Walters

1955: Queen Virginia Reisinger

1956: Queen Eleanor Aldenderfer

1957: Queen Joann Graves

1958: Queen Joy Maughmer

1959: Queen Vivian Gifford

1960: Queen Peggy Clark

1961: Queen Carol Torchick

1962: Queen Barbara Davis

1963: Queen Page Miller

1964: Queen Shauna Humphrey

1965: Queen Debbie Ankrom

1966: Queen Pat Dawley

1967: Queen Janet Collins

1968: Queen Peggy Mayo

1969: Queen Vivian Sheets

1970: Queen Vanessa Hatfield

1971: Queen Cheryl Miller

1972: Queen Kathy Uland

1973: Queen Kimberly Timberlake

1974: Queen Laurie May

1975: Queen Salley Schlegler

1976: Queen Cindy Gifford

1977: Queen Karen Cochran

1978: Queen Carol Moore

1979: Queen Mary Kay Marshall

1980: Queen Mona Southern

1981: Queen Deidre Vancamp

1982: Queen Brenda Myers

1983: Queen Stephanie Timbrook

1984: Queen Sandy Haddox

1985: Queen Shonna Thompson

1986: Queen Rhonda Lambert

1987: Queen Lorie Hendrickson

1988: Queen Christina Brunning

1989: Queen Dierdre Conley

1990: Queen Tara Harrison

1991: Queen Dawnaka Overly

1992: Queen Carrie Bialy

1993: Queen Sabrina Miller

1994: Queen Leah Coey

1995: Queen Jaymie Hoops

1996: Queen Lindsey Logan

1997: Queen Tia Marie Jean

1998: Queen Shannon Stowers

1999: Queen Courtney Vickers

2000: Queen Makiah Maxson

2001: Queen Kacy Walton

2002: Queen Katy Ankrom

2003: Queen MaLeah Thornton

2004: Queen Samantha Vinkovich

2005: Queen Courtney Congrove

2006: Queen Kristen Walters

References

Houts, Kelli. "Pumpkin show hits century mark," The Lantern (Thursday, October 19, 2006): Arts 9.

External links