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Every year a house in West Virginia sets out 3,000 carved pumpkins for a fantastic display
Now this is how you celebrate Halloween!
Khadija Bilal
10.14.19

Everyone’s favorite spooky holiday is nearly here, and that means it’s time to start creating your costume, planning your party, and buying a whole lot of candy for all those trick-or-treaters that will soon be knocking on your door. Another timeless tradition of Halloween is pumpkin carving.

Many families will carve one or two pumpkins to display around their home each year, but one West Virginia house goes above and beyond, carving thousands of pumpkins to impress locals and visitors from around the world!

The home, situated in the town of Kenova, has been nicknamed ‘Pumpkin House’ and is owned by Ric Griffith, the town’s former mayor.

Steven Wayne Rotsch/Today
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Steven Wayne Rotsch/Today

When asked how the whole tradition began, Ric said he never really planned it out, stating “it just evolved out of a variety of factors” in an interview with Today.

He started off carving a few pumpkins with his three daughters each Halloween and placing them around the outside of his home back in the late 1970s. His daughters’ friends later got involved, and the number of pumpkins kept on rising, entering the hundreds and eventually the thousands!

Steven Wayne Rotsch/Today
Source:
Steven Wayne Rotsch/Today

Eventually, Ric decided to aim for a grand total of 3,000 pumpkins! This is more or less the maximum amount he can fit on his property, and it also matches with the town’s approximate population.

On October 19, volunteers from the local community all come together at Ric’s place and get to work, carving the many pumpkins. The team works up to 18 hours in a single day, with around 20 core volunteers who work day in and day out, as well as a few others who help when they can.

Steven Wayne Rotsch/Today
Source:
Steven Wayne Rotsch/Today

The volunteers spend a week getting all the pumpkins carved, based on drawings mostly done by Ric himself. For safety reasons, adults do the carving while kids scoop out the seeds and pulp.

Ric monitors the whole operation while his wife, Sandy, provides snacks and refreshments to the workers. Ric calls the whole thing “organized chaos”, but says it always works out in the end.

Steven Wayne Rotsch/Today
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Steven Wayne Rotsch/Today

The carvings themselves vary from one year to the next, with a range of classic funny faces, presidential figures, cat silhouettes, and more.

The final display is a true marvel to behold, and it draws in thousands of visitors each and every year! Locals always look forward to seeing the pumpkins, but some people visit from very far away, with Ric saying that he spoke with a lady from Ireland just last year who called his pumpkins the best thing she’d seen in America.

Steven Wayne Rotsch/Today
Source:
Steven Wayne Rotsch/Today

Ric’s home is a key feature of the ‘C-K Autumnfest’, an annual fall festival held in the two towns of Ceredo and Kenova, involving a tractor show, a bake-off competition, arts and crafts stalls, and more.

Any true Halloween lovers in the West Virginia area should be sure to head on down to the Pumpkin House and see this incredible sight for themselves. Learn more about it in the video below.

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