Six Sycamore students will get a chance to ride in the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival parade after their essays, poems and short stories were chosen as part of the Sycamore Kiwanis Club’s Junior Marshal Essay Contest.

The contest garnered 39 entries, including 15 from St. Mary’s Catholic School, 23 from Sycamore Middle School and one homeschooler. Participants included 26 sixth graders, four seventh graders and nine eighth graders.

The annual writing contest picks the top two winners out of each category. They get the opportunity to be junior marshals and ride in the Kiwanis Club’s float during the parade Sunday, Oct. 26.

The Kiwanis writing contest began in 1972. This year, judges read 15 poems, 20 stories and four essays to pick the top spots for the honor.

Winners were treated to lunch at Culver’s and had their picture taken at Johnson’s Pumpkin Patch in Sycamore.

Here are the winning entries:

Poems

First place: Evelyn Hall, 8th grader at Sycamore Middle School

Orange and yellow and brown and red

Are the color of the leaves that float in the wind

Carve faces into pumpkins, make them look like big orange heads

Then decorate it and hope that it wins

Ride the rides in the carnival, from freakout to zipper to the ferris wheel

The experience is quite remarkable, it provides a happy home-like feel

Come watch the parade, or you may be in it

Hating it is a charade, you’ll love it, admit it

Apple cider donuts, and elephant ears

Pumpkin spice lattes, all traditions through the years

It’s a celebrated holiday that’s lasted through the decades

Then of course, there’s Halloween after, the treasured masquerade

The pumpkin prose and cinnamon skies, leave you in a blissful state

The amber threads won’t let you deny, that autumn is terribly great

October is Sycamore’s month, it’s our best season

If you want to visit our small town, Pumpkin fest’s the best reason

Second place: Amelia Bellerini, 6th grader at St. Mary’s School

“The Pumpkins Treat”

On one mystic, magic night,

Jack O lanterns glowing bright

Kids with bags of candy sweet,

Roam door to door, street to street,

All dress up for Trick-Or-Treat!

Wizards with wands, pirates with hooks,

Monsters and clowns with creepy looks,

Kings and queens in capes and crowns,

A princess in her royal crown,

Witches with warts, and fairies with wings,

Movie stars with sparkling rings,

Vampires with fangs that bite,

Ghosts that boo dressed in white,

Imaginations taken flight,

On that one mystic, magic night,

Oh, the fun Halloween,

Be young or old in between !

Stories

First place – Annabelle Vega, 8th grader at St. Mary’s School

Three mischievous pumpkins named Spice, Patch, and Gourd sat quietly on a porch the night before Halloween, glowing faintly under the full moon. Suddenly, a strange wind swirled around them, carrying whispers of movie quotes and eerie laughter.

Without warning, a glowing vortex opened beneath them and whoosh! – they were sucked into a projector screen showing Halloween movies.

POOF!

They landed in Halloweentown, dodging witches, goblins, and flying broomsticks. Spice nearly got recruited into witch school, but Patch yanked him out just in time.

WHOOSH!

They dropped into The Nightmare Before Christmas, where Jack Skellington mistook them for decoration. Gourd joined a skeleton band but bailed when his vines got tangled in the drums.

ZAP!

Next, they crash-landed in Hocus Pocus, right into the Sanderson sisters’ cottage.

“A pumpkin with an attitude?” cackled Winifred. “Perfect for a potion!” The sisters lit their cauldron while the pumpkins rolled for their lives.

CRACKLE!

Finally, they popped into Ghostbusters, where a proton beam nearly turned Gourd into pumpkin pie.

“We’re not ghosts!” he screamed.

With a final spark, they were zapped back onto the porch—charred, dizzy, and slightly more orange.

Spice grinned. “Same time next year?” Patch sighed. Gourd just rolled away.

Second place - Aida Doty, 8th grader at Sycamore Middle School

A tall Sycamore stood proudly at the corner of Somanauk Street.

The last leaf, a brilliant yellow and orange color, hung from a strong branch until a big gust of wind tore it free. It spun in the wind, and overlooked the pumpkins and people parading down the long street. Laughter filled the air and the leaf wondered what was happening below.

It passed a giant sign that read “Sycamore, Illinois Pumpkinfest celebration!” and did a quick flip in the air because of its excitement.

The wind picked up at a quicker pace and the leaf flew over the crafty pumpkins at the courthouse, and Carnival lights shining over Sycamore, as it finally came to rest at Wally Thurow’s statue, decorated with an orange scarf.

Instead of a gentle rest, the leaf was quickly swept up one last time, not by the wind, but by a teenage girl, to use as a prop in a silly group photo. After the picture, she tucked it into the brim of her Pumpkinfest beanie.

But the leaf didn’t mind. It had flown over the entire Pumpkinfest, and now it would enjoy the rest of the parade from the best seat on the streets.

Essays

First place - David Orellana, 6th grade Homeschool/Sycamore Middle School

Back in 1956, Wally Thurow, known as Mr. Pumpkin, initiated what became the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival by displaying decorations on his lawn. Because of Mr. Pumpkin and the Lions Club, the Festival developed into an official celebration.

Eventually it united more than thirty DeKalb County nonprofit groups who labor diligently to provide a week of Halloween festivities for the family. Annually a theme is chosen, such as Pumpkin Freedom, A Pumpkin Carnival, or Wild West Pumpkin Fest.

Last year’s festival hosted over one thousand entries in the pumpkin display, two carnivals, three craft shows, and a ninety-minute parade. Mr. Pumpkin’s decorations have exploded into an immense festivity!

Although a Friend of the Festival has not been documented before 2015, a Friend of the Festival is someone who has significantly contributed to the Pumpkin Fest. Last year’s Friend was Bart Desch, who Sycamore posthumously honored for twelve years of dedicated service.

When Bart arrived in Sycamore in 2003, he first served as the program supervisor for the park district until he became the Superintendent of Recreation in 2010. People like Mr. Pumpkin and Bart, who were longtime supporters of Pumpkin Fest, leave a lasting legacy in the hearts of Sycamore’s citizens.

Second place - Quinn Oncken, 6th grader at Sycamore Middle School

When I woke up one fall day, I had the brilliant idea to put decorated pumpkins on my front lawn. I invited my neighbors to join in too.

I am Wally Thurow, also known as “Mr. Pumpkin”. I am the founder of the Sycamore, Illinois Pumpkin fest.

In 1962 my great idea evolved with the help of the Lions Club. Our festival got so big that we had to move it to the front lawn of the courthouse. By 1976, we had our first theme which was “The Spirit of 76”.

Every year we also have craft shows, a house walk, a pie-eating contest, a carnival, a fun fair, a race, and other events. Every year since, we have had more and more people attend. Since 2012, I have been happily watching from above as the next generations carry on this tradition.

I am excited to watch an estimated number of 100,000 people attending Pumpkin Fest every year. It is amazing! Now this year our theme is “Pumpkins at the Movies”. Pumpkin Fest would never have grown to the greatest celebration of all if it was not for the Sycamore Lions Club.