Naperville Park District’s 2020 Pumpkin Smash has Record Turnout

The Naperville Park District’s 2020 Pumpkin Smash had a record turnout. Warm weather and the opportunity to participate in a social distance outdoor event brought out hundreds of people to the Ron Ory Community Garden Plots on Saturday, November 7 to drop off leftover pumpkins to be composted into the garden soil.

The Park District’s 4^th annual Pumpkin Smash had a record of 5,684 lbs. of pumpkins. That record was easily broken with 14,529 lbs., almost triple the previous record. The participants had the choice of smashing the pumpkins themselves or let the volunteers do it for them.

“A special thanks to staff and volunteers who helped run the event,” said Nature Center Manager Angelique Harshman. “We were happy to see so many people contribute pumpkins this year.” SCARCE, a local environmental organization, had coordinated 40 pumpkin collections, that included the Naperville Park District event. Composting pumpkins has numerous benefits that include:

• Keeping waste out of the landfill
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• Creating a natural fertilizer for our soil