By Bailey Knecht, News Correspondent
For many students, a favorite part of Halloween (other than receiving ridiculous amounts of candy) was carving pumpkins. Childhood memories included being surrounded by family and up to elbows in orange goo. Most likely, parents had to do the actual carving so kids didn’t cut themselves with a sharp knife.
Northeastern Dining Services strives to bring back this festive tradition through its annual Great Pumpkin Carving Contest. The event allows students to recreate those childhood memories while simultaneously showing off the skills they’ve gained over the years and showcasing creativity. Now, they no longer play with the gooey insides and draw silly faces on the pumpkin with Sharpies like when they were kids. The artistic and talented Northeastern community forms creative ideas from pop culture and meticulously carves pumpkins into original creations.
On Oct. 24, the Stetson East dining hall was bustling with activity as students made their way to show off their carvings skills at the 13th annual Great Pumpkin Carving Contest.
Debra Fantasia, the dining services marketing director, welcomed everyone, providing both supplies and a smile to participants. She showed students to the “pumpkin patch,” an area full of haystacks topped with pumpkins, ranging from short and fat to tall and skinny. Each team got to pick their own pumpkin to carve and were also provided with bright orange, Halloween-themed carving tools to help complete the task.
Fantasia has been in charge of the contest for all 13 years of its existence. The competition has evolved, increasing from 10 pumpkins in the first year to over 50 last week. Festive t-shirts were also given out to participants this year. Fantasia credited this increase in interest to the popularity of food shows on television, such as “Halloween Wars,” a Halloween display contest on the Food Network.
Every year, Fantasia starts planning the competition in the spring, then a local vendor donates pumpkins to the dining hall in the fall. Some of her favorite designs from past years have been Red Sox and Northeastern-themed.
In addition to bragging rights, the top three teams win cash prizes.
Sisters Allie Soldau, freshman engineering major, and Katie Soldau, third-year computer science and interactive media major, stayed true to the Halloween spirit with a “Nightmare Before Christmas” theme. Before carving, Katie focused on shading in areas of an outline of Jack Skellington to ensure perfection.
“I picked her to be my partner because she’s good at artsy things,” Allie said.
Fourth-years Libby Bernier, psychology major, and Lacey Loomer, economics major, opted for a playful design, carving a minion from “Despicable Me.” Bernier enjoyed the cozy environment of the contest.
“I like carving pumpkins – it reminds me of home,” Bernier said.
When asked what they planned on doing with the prize money if they won, Loomer responded, “drink a lot of pumpkin coffee.”
Sophomores Katie House, industrial engineering major, and Megan Aspray, international business major, continued the cartoon theme with a Mario design from the popular video game.
House appreciated the event, calling it “therapeutic” and “festive.”
“It makes me feel like an 8-year-old again,” Aspray said.
The women also competed last year and showed some school spirit with a Northeastern “N.”
If they won, they planned on going to Cheesecake Factory with the money.
Freshmen Austin Zeliff, business major, and Nigel Slater, engineering major, came into the contest “winging it” according to Zeliff.
“Our goal is just not to get embarrassed,” they said, laughing.
Slater hoped their Darth Vader design would win them the prize money so they could “donate to poor college kids.”
The completed pumpkins were shown in the Xhibition Kitchen on Oct. 25 to be voted on by the Northeastern community. Pictures of the pumpkins were also displayed on the NU Dining Facebook and Twitter pages. There, anyone could vote by “liking” or tweeting a picture of his or her favorite design. After voting closed, the pumpkins were displayed throughout campus to add to the Halloween atmosphere.
Fantasia predicted to see a number of “Boston Strong” themed pumpkins this year and she was correct. Some of the other popular designs included movie characters, Northeastern pride and Boston sports teams.
One team imaginatively carved a hedgehog that lit up, naming it Henry, while another team opted for a Northeastern theme, creating a striking design of President Joseph E. Aoun. Another group crafted a sparkly Cinderella-themed pumpkin carriage, making for a glamorous design. Two teams even recreated scenes from Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” music video.
The results were released on Oct. 28. First place went to Trung Nguyen and Wei Ng and their pumpkin titled “Boo,” depicting a scary-looking ghost. Their design earned them nearly 300 Facebook “likes.”
Shongmas Primrose Nimnark took home second place with her spooky creation named “Craniumpkin.” Her pumpkin character included a realistic-looking brain along with miniature pumpkin monsters.
Third place was awarded to Nicole Bartolotta and Serena Dao, the team that intricately carved Miley Cyrus on a wrecking ball. They named their pumpkin “We came in like a…” after the lyrics from the song. The three teams won prizes of $100, $75 and $50 respectively.
