EAGLE, Idaho — Eagle residents are helping the city prepare more than 1,000 pumpkins for their third annual 'Night of a Thousand Pumpkins' event.
"It's a lot of work, it's a lot of carving, but the community comes in and helps us out and, and it's, it's a lot of fun," said Brian Allen, City of Eagle Recreation Director.
Watch to learn more about how the city's event comes to life.
"It's for 'Night of a Thousand Pumpkins,' which is this Saturday, October 25th. That's going to happen here at Eagle City Hall from 6:00 p.m. until 9 p.m. We're gonna have a chili cook-off in the community hall from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and the whole campus will be decorated with 1000 carved pumpkins. There'll be a trunk or treat behind City Hall in the parking lot and, activities in front of the library," said Laura Williams, City of Eagle Public Information Officer.
Recreation Director Brian Allen, who brought the idea to Eagle, says he was inspired by a similar event in Nauvoo, Illinois.
"They have something called the Pumpkin Walk, and it's a lot of carved pumpkins that the community does, and I thought, well, we can do better and we'll do 1,000," Allen said.
Allen actually pitched the idea during his initial job interview.
"They were talking about events and different things with recreation," Allen said. "And I was here for a little bit, and finally, once I got the hang of the job and the grasp of everything, I talked to our event coordinator and said I have this idea. I think we can pull it off."
"This is only the 3rd year that it's happened. It was actually the brainchild of our recreation director, Brian Allen. He wanted a Halloween event and thought that the community would really appreciate it. And even on its first year, thousands of people showed up. We had such great response. We know the community loves it, and we just want to keep it going year after year," Williams said.
That idea sparked a brand-new Halloween tradition in Eagle, one that has grown into a major community event in just three years.
The event has seen remarkable growth since its inception. The first year drew an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people, while last year's attendance reached 7,000 to 10,000 people.
This year, the city is preparing approximately 1,250 pumpkins, to make up for the smaller pumpkins compared to previous years.
"The pumpkin carving has been happening since Tuesday, Tuesday to Friday. Drop-in times available from noon until 4:00 p.m., and then if you want to come in after 4pm, just give our recreation department a call and we can schedule a time between 4pm and 8pm," Williams said.
This year, local schools, the mayor and neighbors from across the valley have already carved hundreds, but there's still plenty of work to do before the lights come on.
"We had a couple of local school sports teams show up and carve a bunch. The mayor also went out to Eagle High School, and we took a bunch of pumpkins out there and they carved a bunch. That was on Tuesday. So we love it when big groups kind of show up, gut and carve all of the pumpkins, and we've had probably 300 to 400 carved so far. So we have to make a good push today and tomorrow to get all 1000 carved," Williams said.
Allen estimates they're not quite halfway done with the carving.
"We have today, we have tomorrow, and Friday we'll be doing them, and we'll get them done," Allen said.
All supplies are provided for community members who want to help carve.
"Yes, all the supplies for the pumpkin carving are included there. They're all inside the community hall. Spoons for carving out the guts of the pumpkin and a various array of tools in order to make your faces," Williams said.
The community involvement has transformed the event from a city-sponsored activity into something residents truly own.
"One of the things we've noticed just at City Hall alone is the energy and the vibe during that week is incredible. People have a good time, not just the public coming in, but everyone around City Hall. With the public coming in, they're joining in," Allen said.
"The public kind of takes ownership of the event because they're involved with it. They're involved with the carving of the jack-o'-lanterns. They help volunteer and get involved with the decorating on Saturday, so it's become kind of ownership thing for the community, not just the rec department putting on an event," Allen said.
The city has made adjustments based on previous years' experiences. Event night will feature a chili cook-off and family activities, plus a redesigned trunk-or-treat.
"The trunk or treat this year has been reimagined, so there is not going to be any set lines, multiple entry points, and people will be able to just kind of go in and go to whichever trunk they want," Williams said.
"We've noticed some things, like the line last year, there was a long line that was way too long, so this year there will be no lines for the trunk or treat. We've just noticed it continues to grow and we're having to kind of adapt and grow with it," Allen said.
The city also continues to expand the decorations each year.
"We've added a lot. We try to add new decorations every year. We don't get rid of any. We just try to add a few more things here and there as we go. As the event grows, the aesthetics of it will grow as well," Allen said.
As Eagle continues to grow, city officials are confident the event can accommodate more residents.
"Here at our Eagle City Hall campus we have a lot of room, a lot of space, as this is not a historical event, it is going to stay here at City Hall, which allows us to accommodate for more people coming in. And every year we're trying to make things better, so like the redesigning of the trunk-or-treat this year. If we discover that even more people show up and we need to adapt for next year, we'll do that. It's an ever-changing thing, and we always want to make events great for our community," Williams said.
Williams encouraged attendees to come in costume despite potential weather concerns.
"People can show up in costume on Saturday. We encourage it. The weather forecast is saying there's a chance of rain, so hopefully it'll clear up by the evening and we'll have beautiful dry weather. But if it doesn't, I would say wear your costume, just be aware that you might need a jacket or an umbrella or something if it's a little wet," Williams said.
Allen emphasized the importance of Halloween as a community celebration.
"I think especially when it comes to the autumn and Halloween, it's such a big time of the year for people, and really it's second only to Christmas as far as spending and participation goes, so I really wanted something. We do a Harvest Fest, but I wanted something kind of Halloween specific, so to see the turnout that first year was very gratifying," Allen said.
The Recreation Department is looking for Volunteers for Night of a Thousand Pumpkins. If interested you can call (208) 489-8763 or email parks@cityofeagle.org.
"They will need help decorating Saturday morning. We do need help taking down at the end of the event. It's actually a lot of work. We try to get it done as quickly as we can. There's a lot of straw bales to move and pumpkins," Allen said.
At the end of the event, community members can take pumpkins home.
"The community is allowed to take the pumpkins. There'll be a certain time of the night where the DJ announces that you can start taking pumpkins, and it's kind of pick one you like and take it with you. And the more pumpkins they take, the less clean up we have to do at the end of the night," Allen said.
Starting at 6 p.m. on October 25, Eagle City Hall will be glowing orange thanks to a thousand jack-o'-lantern smiles.
