NEWS

Kingwood Center Gardens growing pumpkins

Lou Whitmire
Reporter

MANSFIELD – In preparation for the Great Pumpkin Glow at Kingwood Center Gardens on Oct. 17 and 18, the staff at Kingwood has more than doubled the size of its pumpkin patch, raising 400 to 500 pumpkins this summer.

Chuck Gleaves, the executive director of Kingwood Center Gardens, said that, with Kingwood growing its own pumpkins, it will help offset some of the cost of the roughly more than 700 pumpkins used at the fall fundraiser.

The event will be from 5 to 10 p.m. Oct. 17 and from 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 18. Gleaves said people should bring the whole family to see Kingwood’s grounds glowing with hundreds of carved and lit pumpkins, glowing balloons, friendly scarecrows, festive gourds, corn stalks and chrysanthemums.

The public is invited to carve the pumpkins three evenings before the Pumpkin Glow. The carvings are free, and the pumpkins remain the property of Kingwood.

Chuck Gleaves, the executive director of Kingwood Center Gardens, examines a pumpkin in the newest pumpkin patch on property on the southeastern corner of Park Avenue West and Trimble Road, which Kingwood Center owns.

“We take the pumpkins to schools. We have a broad range of people do the carving, and if people are interested in the carving, there are lots of opportunities for them to do that,” he said.

Gleaves showed The News Journal the new additional patch of large pumpkins he planted on land Kingwood Center Gardens owns at the southeastern corner of Park Avenue West and Trimble Road, formerly the Townsend Mansion, built about the same time as Kingwood Center.

The Great Pumpkin Glow will be at Kingwood Center Gardens on Oct. 17 and 18. Staff has doubled the size of its pumpkin patch on property on the southeastern corner of Park Avenue West and Trimble Road, which Kingwood Center owns.

The mansion was donated to Kingwood Center Gardens. It sits on 13 acres and is not open to the public.

For the second year, staff and groundskeepers have worked to maintain a pumpkin patch behind the Townsend Mansion too.

When asked whether there was a Great Pumpkin like in Charlie Brown’s story, lurking amid the pumpkins, Gleaves said, “No,” with a laugh, adding that, to grow a big pumpkin, you would have to keep any other pumpkins from coming on the vine.

For more information about the Pumpkin Glow, and cost of admission, call Kingwood Center, 50 N. Trimble Road, at 419-522-0211.

Related:

Chuck Gleaves, the executive director of Kingwood Center Gardens, walks through the newest pumpkin patch on property on the southeastern corner of Park Avenue West and Trimble Road, which Kingwood Center owns.

lwhitmir@nncogannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir