Photo by James Short.
What do you do with a rotting gourd sitting on your front porch once the holiday is over?
It happens every year. You’ve had your fun, carving the fun designs and faces into the year’s jack-o-lanterns. They’ve donned your front porch for several weeks. But now, Halloween is over. What are you to do with a rotting gourd biodegrading on your front steps now?
One area municipality has a pretty great option for pumpkin disposal: the Jenkintown Pumpkin Drop.
Each year, the Jenkintown Recreational Board presents the annual Pumpkin Drop event in the community’s Town Square. And 2024 was no different. This past Sunday, Nov. 3, at 2:30 p.m., the drop was underway, and Willow Grove Now was there to catch the exciting moment.
Residents are asked to bring used jack-o-lanterns to the Town Square each year. From there, the borough’s leaders allow the community to watch as the used-up gourds are hoisted up, 105 feet in the air, by a firetruck ladder.
The community has its very own Jenkintown Borough Pumpkin Drop Cage, the only one known to exist in the world, according to them. At maximum altitude, the trap door opens, and the pumpkins crash to the pavement below with a magnificent splash.
But don’t worry. The jack-o-lantern remains are not left to rot in the center of town. The destroyed pumpkins, after their great fall, are joined by other used pumpkin donations brought to the square, are then composted, courtesy of Jenkintown's Public Works Department.
Check out the exciting moments captured on video, thanks to Willow Grove Now Media Manager James Short!
