Bessemer event to feature pumpkins by the ton

By Mary Grzebieniak

BESSEMER, Pa. — Bessemer is coming back.

Dealt a blow by the recent closing of the borough’s major employer, Essroc Cement, the borough is refusing to give up and instead is launching community events to bolster community pride, according to Bessemer Beautification Committee Chairman Robin Kirkwood.

The town recently dedicated “Old Glory Square” at the junction of West Poland Avenue and Main Street and now is having a “Great Pumpkin Event” there from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The event will feature a display of more than 25,000 pounds of giant pumpkins from local prize-winning growers. Kirkwood said such a collection of pumpkins is unmatched anywhere in the nation.

But the festival is about more than pumpkins. Kirkwood said it is equally an effort to bolster the community’s spirit in spite of its difficulties. “Every flower we plant, every event, makes a difference in how we see ourselves,” she said. “Either a town grows or it dies. There is no middle ground.”

And the community has enthusiastically joined in. Local churches will sell pumpkin pie, the Mohawk High School A.R.T.S. Club will paint the pumpkins and ask those attending to vote for their favorite. The F.D. Campbell Memorial Library will give away pumpkins to the first 50 children, and there will be a variety of food, as well as rock climbing, raffles, pumpkin carving demonstrations, hayrides and face painting. There will be music by local disc jockey David Mikesell and a free performance from 10 to 10:45 by the Pittsburgh-area acoustic pop/folk band Saylor Lynn. A 1,000-pound pumpkin sculpture created by Brett Schroyer of Mercer also will be displayed.

Kirkwood and Jerry Snyder comprise the Beautification Committee, which is sponsoring the event and will devote some proceeds to its efforts. The idea for the giant- pumpkin theme was Snyder’s. A member of the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers, he will display a 1,365-pound pumpkin that placed 12th at the OVGPG’s weigh-off Oct. 3 and, at last check, ranked 39th in the world and will be available to give advice about growing giant pumpkins.

Dave Stelts of Edinburg, Pa., and Steve Razo of New Middletown, Ohio, also will show giant pumpkins. Stelts is the 2000 world and current Pennsylvania record holder; Razo is a squash record holder.

Kirkwood said her committee wants to make the pumpkin festival an annual event. Another of its project is a major restoration of the Hickory Run watershed which runs through the center of town.