As the time for ghosts and ghouls approaches, Cariboo GM invites children and young at heart of the lakecity to grab their carving tools and come make some Jack’O’Lanterns on Tuesday, Oct. 29 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for their annual pumpkin carving contest.
This year the event is being organized by Cathy Poole, fleet manager of Cariboo GM, who has been selling vehicles there for the last 13 years. In that time, Poole said they’ve always tried doing things for the community by hosting a variety of fun events for the community.
One of these events is their annual pumpkin carving contest, Poole said, which last year attracted around 100 children to the dealership. They will clear space in either the front showroom or the service drive and set up tables covered in paper, all set for carvers to go crazy on their pumpkins. This year, Poole said they’ve ordered around 200 pumpkins for this event, one for each attendee though, if there are some leftover at the end, they can take another one home to carve at a later date.
“Why not make a mess in our showroom rather than your kitchen?” Poole asked.
They’ll also have a toddler corner set up, Poole said, where little ones can draw on pumpkin cutouts and do other arts and crafts activities. This will allow parents and older children to focus on creating their perfect Jack’O’Lantern.
While they do provide basic stencils, some knives and carving kits, Poole encourages those particular about their Jack’O’Lanterns to bring their own equipment as it may be slow going with 100 other participants using the same tools.
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Poole said she and the other Cariboo GM employees view this event as a way to give back to the community who supports them year-round. They even look forward to seeing children come out to their pumpkin carving contest every year, she added.
“It’s a way that we can give back, our town is all about local shopping and keeping things local,” Poole said. “We appreciate people shopping locally for us and we try to give back to as many kids activities that we can.”
This year Poole said little will be changing except for the date and time which were specifically chosen to avoid conflict with other Halloween activities that happen this time of year. They tried to pick a date as close to Halloween as possible, however, to keep the Jack’O’Lanterns fresh for Halloween.
Cariboo GM’s Grillverado will also be on hand withcooks barbecuing some hot dogs and selling juice boxes, all by donation, that will be donated to a local charity at the end of the night.
“We usually do have some prizes available for costumes as well so if the kids want to dress up it’s always fun to see them,” Poole said.
Personally, Poole loves watching how excited and wound up children get sitting in the showroom carving pumpkins with their friends.
She said they’ve seen everything from newborn babies right up to 20-year-olds having a blast at the pumpkin carving together.
Anyone with questions is encouraged to call the dealership at 250-392-7185, Poole said, as anyone in the building knows about the event or can e-mail herself via cathy@cariboogm.ca.
patrick.davies@wltribune.com
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