Pumpkin House Still Going Strong

Once fall begins, trees start to lose their leaves, the weather turns cooler and the town of Kenova, West Virginia starts to see an increase in tourism. This is because of their annual C-K Festival. In addition to the festival, Kenova hosts The Pumpkin House, their most popular attraction. The Pumpkin House has displayed thousands of pumpkins for almost thirty years. The Pumpkin House receives their pumpkins at the beginning of October, where hundreds of volunteers work together to build stands and carve pumpkins for decoration. The front of this house is adorned with three thousand pumpkins, which is the approximate number of residents in Kenova. This represents one pumpkin for each individual living in the town.

This large display of pumpkins started out quite small. Ric Griffith, former mayor of Kenova, used to put several pumpkins outside the drugstore he owned every year well perceived by the townspeople. He soon began to put hundreds outside his large, Victorian style home. By the year 2000, he had started to display three thousand pumpkins, keeping the same tradition ever since.

One key part of The Pumpkin House is how the city refuses to accept any money from visitors, including donations. The Pumpkin House has been featured in countless magazines including Southern Living. You may read the article about the house on the magazines website: https://www.southernliving.com/travel/west-virginia/kenova-pumpkin-house.

Once Halloween night is over, volunteers help to remove all three thousand pumpkins. The pumpkins may only be on display for a short time each year, but they bring the community together for the betterment of the town.

For more information about The Pumpkin House, visit: http://www.ckautumnfest.com/activities.html