10-20-2021 1:45pm

Saline To Host Pumpkin Roll November 6

Drew Saunders Neighbor

What are you doing with your Jack O Lanterns after Halloween? Once again, the Saline Rec Center is offering Saline families a chance to have a fun day out, November 6, while getting rid of them by rolling them down a hill.

“It’s a fond farewell. Families will bring their Jack O Lanterns and pumpkins that they did not carve to the park and roll them down the hill,” Saline Rec Center Deputy Director Sunshine Lambert said. “We divide them by age groups; all the way from two and three year old’s, all the way to adults.”

The Rec Center will welcome families onto the top of the hill by the Mill Pond at 9 a.m. on the first Saturday of November with their old Halloween pumpkins and children will be organized into groups based on age. They will take it in turns to race their pumpkins downhill.

This is the eighteenth year of the tradition. Parents must register their children in advance to participate, either through calling the Rec Center, or through Salinerec.com. Registration is free.

“Our family is looking forward to our first ever pumpkin roll. I think it is a great way to do something fun and environmentally responsible with our pumpkin remains,” City Manager Colleen O’Toole said.

The first kid to roll their pumpkin to the bottom will get a prize from one of the sponsors, Meijer. Waste Management is also sponsoring the event.

Cider and doughnuts will be made available at the family-friendly event. The event is also eco-friendly, because rather than sending the pumpkin to sit in a landfill, the city will deposit them at the city-owned composting location.

“One of the biggest attractions, for both the kids and the adults, is that they bring a catapult,” City Councilor Janet Dillon said. “You can catapult your pumpkin, or pumpkin pieces, into the woods.” Once launched, they measure distance, Dillon added. “It’s always fun.”