Pumpkins are rooted into Halloween lore, originally carved into Jack-o-lanterns by ancient Celts to ward off evil spirits during the Samhain festival, which soon became Halloween.
It’s unlikely one would step outside on Halloween night and not see one or two lit ghoulish faces carved into a pumpkin sitting on porches. Perhaps this is because the act of carving pumkins, while messy, can be extremely fun.
The 100 Mile House Library recognizes this and incorporates it into their weekly after-school programming.
“Once a month, they have an event that happens, so we generally have a story and then do some crafts,” said Connie Flannery, the organizer of the event and a clerk at the library. “Today, we’re pumpkin carving and then we will do the story and have some treats.”
The class of 12 carved their pumpkins before settling down to Flannery reading Winnie’s Amazing Pumpkin, a book written by Valerie Thomas and illustrated by Korky Paul, about a witch called Winnie who uses magic to grow her own pumpkin but accidentally creates a giant one.
The pumpkin carving happens almost every Halloween and with usually a full class of 20 children. Flannery wasn’t sure why only 12 showed up on Oct. 25.
“Usually we get a full class,” she said.”The people you think were coming to class, who always come to every sing class every week, aren’t here, which is very unusual.”
The after-school programming was established as means to bring children into the library to find a book and get reading. Attendees get to play games in addition to reading a story and making crafts.