Archive for the ‘Morton/Hindaun’ Category

P-Fest & Ganesh Chathurthi

Sunday, September 19th, 2004

Had a nice two - three days with the Pumpkin Festival wrapping up on Saturday and celebrating Ganesh Chathurthi at the temple.

Friday Night

Beth called me at 7.30 pm, and I went to pick up her, her two roommates (Rachel and Julia), and her friend Molly. We drove to the P-Fest (hardly five mins) and walked around for two hours. They were all hungry so the first place we went was the food tent (the line was outrageous, but it was fun :smile:). There is always some entertainment going on in the food tent and there was a band playing some nice music. Next stop was the merchant’s tent which was basically next door the food tent. One of my good friends, Heidi, always has a booth setup with her mom as they do Creative Memories (scrapbooking and how to make albums), but this year was the first time they didn’t have a stall. :sad: I am not sure why. Next we saw the Pumpkin Decorating Contest that were done by all youngsters. They are so creative with a pumpkin — unbelievable. With the theme being, Under the Sea, many kids made Nemo from the movie, Finding Nemo. Very cute.

We usually run into a lot of our high school friends at the P-fest, this year we didn’t see many. Sarah Eades and Janea Rogers we talked to, who were there with their boyfriends. Kristi and Darla we also caught up with, and Jennie & Betsy; that’s about it. Not sure where the crowd was this year. :roll:

I had a great time with Beth, as always, and her roommates plus Molly. I hope they had as a good of a time! :smile:

Saturday Morning

Its That Time of the Year — P-Fest Time!

Monday, September 13th, 2004

2004 Morton Pumpkin Festival Theme

Current Tune: Darshan - B21

My hometown, Morton, is known as the Pumpkin Capital of the World and every year we host a Pumpkin Festival (this week Wed.-Sat.) where everyone comes and enjoys all types of pumpkin delicacies:

  • pumpkin ice cream
  • pumpkin pie
  • pumpkin pancakes
  • pumpkin everything :smile:
  • carnival rides for all ages, and also different pumpkin contests:

  • Punkin-Chuckin’ - how far you can throw a pumpkin using a catapult
  • biggest/smallest/fattest/thinnest pumpkins
  • pumpkin decorating
  • you-name-it-we-got-it kind of a thing :wink:
  • If you think that was enough, there are also 5K, 10K, and marathon races, tennis and golf tournaments, and many other events. The festival highlight and grand finale is on Saturday morning when all 15,000 people of Morton gather on the main streets of the city to watch the biggest parade in Central Illinois. Many different marching bands come from all different schools in the area to participate in the parade competition. Floats are made by many businesses and other social groups based on the festival’s theme to promote their organization as well enjoy with the people of Morton.

    Many of my friends, who are out of town for college, come back this week to enjoy the festivities. Its also a great time to see all of your high school friends that you might have lost touch with or haven’t seen in quite some time. Back in high school, this week we would forget all about school work and spend every waking moment after school @ the p-fest (it opens every day after 4). :lol: Aah those were the days. :smile:

    I know Beth will be coming home this week sometime to enjoy the fest and will bring her roommates. I am in good hopes to see her on Friday. I think Prasad & Kavita are going to come on Saturday morning to see the parade @ 10.30 am which will be fun. :smile:

    I also love watching the marching bands in the parade as I was also a participant back in the days with the junior high and high school bands. Because we host the parade, our high school band never participated in the competition. (we would beat the heck out of them anyway :wink:) I will have to dig up some of my parade photos — you won’t even be able to recognize me. :grin:

    Alvida. Jai Mata Di.