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The pumpkin people have returned to Bay Shore.
Now in its second year, the Bay Shore Beautification Society contest consists of local residents and businesses building life-sized people out of pumpkins.
The contest idea comes from Jackson N.H., which is now in its 34th year.
“We want people to make them funny, scary, doing an activity, or really however they want to make them,” said Mary Louise Cohen, founder of the Bay Shore Beautification Society. “We are only in our second year and it takes time to build some involvement.”
All residents, businesses and the schools are all invited to partake. The Bay Shore-wide contest runs until the end of October.
Last year, some participants designed their pumpkin people to be representative of their families (photos below). Cohen also recalls seeing a re-enactment from The Wizard of Oz.
In part, the contest is meant to generate a buzz and more foot traffic in and around the downtown.
Participating businesses have the choice of displaying their pumpkin people inside or outside their business, “depending on how they’re able to utilize their space,” Cohen said. “We’re also hoping to see more of our schools involved this year.”
The Bay Shore Beautification Society is calling this a free-form event. We’re looking to see as much creativity as possible throughout the contest,” Cohen said.
Submissions will be posted on the beautification’s Facebook page throughout the duration of October to keep Bay Shore residents updated and aware of their surrounding competitors.
“The idea is to get people to participate, create an atmosphere of fun and make things look a little more interesting for the fall and Halloween season,” Cohen said.
She recognized Sue Boudreau, the beautification society’s president, as responsible for coming up with the idea for Bay Shore. First, second, and third place winners will be announced on Halloween and awarded with a prize (yet to be determined).
All photos can be sent to bayshorebeautificationsociety@gmail.com for a chance to win. The committee picks the winner. To watch a tutorial on how to build pumpkin people, click here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ko5EqCfFxw.
Below are courtesy photos from 2017.
