2024 has not been a good year for pumpkins, until now. This autumn has been too dry and too warm, factors promoting both desiccation and rot. Pumpkins left outside to fend for themselves often fall prey to squirrels, packs of which have been known to strip pumpkins to the bone within minutes.
This Halloween, however, some very fortunate pumpkins found themselves outside of the Leidy Auditorium at Fox Chase Cancer Center, participating in the 3rd Annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest. The contest features artistic contributions from teams and departments across Fox Chase and Temple University Hospital – Jeanes Campus. While entries from previous years seemed to stretch the art form to new levels of gourdtastic handiwork, this year’s batch of entries probed new frontiers of creativity.
The entries covered fantastic tableaus, from a bartending pumpkin (serving virgin Jell-O shots) to a cackling witch stirring a cauldron. Takes on pop icons covered things like Harry Potter, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Rick Sanchez from “Rick & Morty,” and Audrey II from the “Little Shop of Horrors” musical (complete with interactive musical buttons). Some, like the pumpkin depicting an autumnal take on the Philadelphia skyline, would make for really fantastic fall wedding centerpieces.
“They really stepped up their artistry this year, that’s for sure,” said Shannon Colangelo, whose office door was next to the witch, which had been cackling all morning long. “I really think it speaks to the spirit of the people of Fox Chase and TUH-Jeanes Campus.”
Colangelo, a manager in food services, organized the pumpkin contest (along with a committee of colleagues), judging for which occurred as the 3rd Annual Costume Contest and Parade contestants gathered nearby, offering a chaotic, festive feel to the event. “Of course, everyone is busy, but I find it remarkable that our contributors found time to enter the contest—and with such forethought,” Colangelo said. “I think the contest makes our visitors and patients happy, but I really think the employees get a lot out of it too.”
Special guest Linda Carmen stood watch over the Respiratory Care Department’s contribution—the bartending pumpkin—offering lime Jell-O “snot shots” (booze-free) to passersby. Carmen lives in the city’s Mayfair neighborhood. She traveled over at the request of her daughter, Christine McCullough, a respiratory therapist.
“My daughter, Chrissy, asked that I come by to keep watch over their entry and hand out shots, which are actually very good,” said Carmen. “All of these pumpkins are really quite something.”
The contestants were broken up into two broad categories for onsite and network site teams. Winners received gift cards for $100, $50, and $25 for first, second, and third place, respectively: