Despite splatter, launching pumpkins delights eager crowd

About 150 people came out to see pumpkins fly through the air Saturday. \nThe afternoon brought sunshine, a cloudless sky, warm weather and launching pumpkins. \nMembers of the Bloomington community participated in the Great Bloomington Pumpkin Launch, sponsored by Bloomington Parks and Recreation, at the field at the Hilltop Garden and Nature Center.\nIndividuals and families came to witness the event, bringing dogs, food and fun-loving attitudes. Cheers erupted from the crowd as each pumpkin was launched, as well as laughter whenever a pumpkin exploded onto the ground.\nFamily members of the teams took pictures and filmed the launches on hand-held camcorders.\nJudges made sure the area surrounding the launches was safe. They roped off the launching area, and instructed spectators to stand at least 10 feet behind and to either side of it.\n"Flying pumpkins are fun, but not when they're flying at you," Leslie Kaiser, the Community Events specialist, said with a laugh.\nSome people came from further distances than the surrounding community. Ann Claussen, a resident of Bethlehem, Penn., was in town for the Union Board reunion with her husband and decided to check out the action. \nShe came with her friends from Bloomington, the Richards family.\nEnid Richards brought her husband and son along. She said that her son, Peter, wants to compete in the event next year with one of his friends.\n"They came this year to watch to get ideas," she said.\nAs pumpkins flew through the air, some landing almost 30 feet from their starting point, Claussen and Richards "oohed" and "aahed." \n"Whoa," Claussen shouted as the winning team launched a pumpkin 26 yards.\nParticipants in the competition made catapults out of wood and mechanical elements to launch the pumpkins. Rules forbade fuel and electrical elements. Launchers weighed between five and 100 pounds. Pumpkins had to weigh a minimum of eight pounds.\nCreative launches included having a person sit in a swing at the edge of the catapult and swing forward to launch the pumpkin at the other end. Another needed to be cranked before being launched, and it tipped over every time the pumpkin flew off of it.\nFour teams signed up to compete in distance and accuracy contests. Each contest involved two tries.\nThe distance contest consisted of a team launching a pumpkin and measuring the distance it flew. Yard markers ran along the right side of the field.\nIn the accuracy contest, teams launched pumpkins at scarecrows standing at the other end of the field. None of the teams were successful in hitting them, although some came close.\nMembers of IU's Central Black Student Union judged the contests. \nSenior Camille Jones, one of the judges, said that her undergraduate adviser told the Union about the event about a week beforehand and hoped they would get involved.\n"We wanted to help out, to get involved with some of the things in the Bloomington community," Jones said. "I know we do a lot of things on campus, but we wanted to do some things in the community as well."\nArea bakeries served pumpkin pie during the day. A pumpkin seed spitting contest and a pie taste-off added to the fun of the day's events. The seed-spitting contest was free, while the pie taste-off cost $1. For $2, people could register to launch their Halloween pumpkins.\nThe Bloomington Parks and Recreation Web site encouraged people to get rid of their Halloween pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns by participating in the pumpkin launch. The launched pumpkins will be tilled into the gardens to help enrich the soil for next year's growing season.