Pumpkin Festival in Coal Grove enters second year

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 2, 2002

COAL GROVE-- As the leaves begin to turn shades of bright reds and oranges, Coal Grove will celebrate fall Saturday with the second annual Pumpkin Festival.

"We wanted to offer something for the community in the fall," said Rick Clark, festival founder and owner of Clark's Nursery in Coal Grove. "It is very important to get people to come to the community and it helps the local businesses."

Festivities will be at the nursery and behind the car wash on Marion Pike. Last year, about 8,000 people attended the event and they expect double the attendance this year, he said.

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"This is to make the community grow," he said. "We want Ironton and Coal Grove to be prosperous again and it takes the whole community to make it happen."

For the second annual event, Clark tried to build on the success of last year by adding more vendors, activities and staff. Without the more than 20 volunteers, the festival would not be possible, Clark said.

Clark said he is most excited about the entertainment for the children. Activities include a car show, a petting zoo, a parade, a Little Miss and Mister costume contest, 17 local musical acts and the Great Pumpkin Painting Contest.

"This is something for families and the community," he said. "Both city governments, Ironton and Coal Grove, have really helped us out a lot."

Although still days from hosting this years festival, the Clarks have already started thinking about next year and have some big plans in the works. They hope to expand the event to three days and will book three national musical acts that he couldn't name at this point, he said.

Schedule of events:

Car show(noon)

Parade(noon)

Meet the teams(1 p.m.)

Little Miss and Mister contest(2 p.m.)

Band competition(3 p.m.)

Great Pumpkin Painting Contest(4 p.m.)