Pumpkins Fly at the Punkin’ Chunkin’ Festival

The community can participate in free family fun, support a local fire department, and watch pumpkins take flight at the annual Howard Fire Company Punkin’ Chunkin’ Fall Festival on October 22.

Inspired by pumpkin launches he had seen on television, fire company supporting member and former executive committee member George Demchak brought the idea to his peers more than a decade ago to help create a fall fundraising festival.

“I don’t know anywhere else in the area where you can go and watch a 10-pound pumpkin fly through the air at truly breakneck speeds and splash down in the lake,” he says.

The idea turned into a popular fall event that attracts thousands of people who travel from around the state and country to see pumpkins defy gravity each year.

The one-day event is held at Bald Eagle State Park in Howard and serves as the main fundraising effort for the fire company, according to Mark Ott, fire police captain and festival committee member. The funds are vital to the operation of the volunteer-based company.

“People don’t realize how close on the line emergency services are in this state,” Ott says, noting that volunteers fill firefighter roles in many Pennsylvania communities.

The event includes a craft show with 60 to 70 vendors, nearly 40 food stands, and around 10 professional “chunkers” who bring their launching machines to the beach inside the park.

Ott says the professional chunkers use a variety of machines including cannons, trebuchets, catapults, and torsion- and human-powered machines. Each machine can fling a pumpkin at different velocities and reach distances of 100 to 3,000 feet, he says. The world record is 4,694 feet—more than three-quarters of a mile—according to World Championship Punkin Chunkin.

“There’s a real science behind this,” Demchak says.

During the main event, the chunkers aim to launch a pumpkin about every three minutes from two launching areas on the shores of the beach. 

“It’s awe-inspiring,” Demchak says of the pumpkins flying toward floating targets and into the lake. The changing foliage provides a vivid background for the event.

A launching lunch break gives visitors the opportunity to enjoy something from the food vendors, watch the old-fashioned pumpkin pie eating contest, and interact with the professional chunkers.

Demchak says the event serves as an opportunity for professional teams to refine their machines before attending national events. Some of the chunkers even hold world records.

But ultimately, for Demchak and the rest of the committee, the festival is focused on safe fun for the community. The fire company has a member who is an engineer and can review the machines for safety before any pumpkins take flight. The fire company aims to host an event where anyone in the community can have fun.

“We’ve always wanted to make this an activity where whether you’re a parent, an elderly person, or a young person, if you come with $5 in your pocket, you can have a good day. If you come with $50 in your pocket, you can have a good day, so there’s no reason not to come,” Demchak says.

The event has free parking and admission but offers some paid activities like the mini pumpkin launchers, where attendees can launch a pumpkin on a smaller version of a professional machine. 

Volunteers will also accept free-will donations for the fire company. The raised funds help the Howard Fire Company upgrade equipment and continue to train members.

“And that allows us to serve our coverage area and surrounding mutual-aid areas a whole lot better,” Demchak says.

Howard Fire Company covers Howard Borough and Howard, Marion, and Curtin townships.

Ott and Demchak say Punkin’ Chunkin’ at the park is made possible by volunteers who staff the event and by community donations. 

Volunteers spend much of Thursday and Friday preparing and setting up before the big day. Ott says they return on Sunday and extensively clean the area to leave the park in “a better condition than they found it.” He says it is a good service to the park at the end of the recreation season, too.

The pumpkins are donated by Hilltop Farms on Jacksonville Road in Howard, where an Amish fire company member grows them, Demchak says. The pumpkins are ornamental, meaning they are not edible for humans, but they do make a tasty snack for livestock back on the farm.

“The pumpkins are gathered out of the lake once they’re fired from the launching machines and get taken back to Hilltop, where the farmer feeds [them] to the pigs,” Demchak explains.

Watch the Chunkin’

The Punkin’ Chunkin’ Fall Festival is held rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 22, at Bald Eagle State Park (GPS address: 149 Main Park Road, Howard, Pa. 16841).

Event organizers say volunteers are always needed and welcomed to help continue this community event. To volunteer at the festival, contact the Howard Fire Company through its website or by emailing [email protected]. T&G

Hannah Pollock is a freelance writer in State College.