Pumptoberfest attracts students from across FPU community

by Paul Lambert
edited by Brian Carey

A long-standing Franklin Pierce fall staple continued last Friday, October 25 when dozens of students gathered in the academic triangle for the annual Pumptoberfest.

The event, which has now been held for 20 years, is hosted by Senior Experience Director Chris Johnson and Scott Ansevin-Allen, the Assistant Dean of Student Involvement. Along with pumpkin carving and decorating, this year featured a petting zoo, an inflatable rodeo, music, and s’mores. 

The two created Pumptoberfest as an offshoot of sorts of the larger Keene Pumpkin Festival. After they did volunteer work with the organizers of the Keene event, leftover pumpkins were brought back to campus and were carved out by Johnson and Ansevin-Allen. Once it got started, Pumpkinfest took off and became a popular campus event quickly.

(Photo: Paul Lambert)

Ansevin-Allen attributes the appeal to nostalgia many students have for crisp fall days much like Friday.

“It hits your inner child,” he said. “It’s a flashback in a lot of cases… That’s what we’re trying to do with a lot of programs, and it’s a perfect seasonal event in October.”

According to Ansevin-Allen, planning the event begins in August when the first calls are made to local farmers for pumpkins. Throughout September and October, student groups work with businesses in the region to coordinate the other activities like the inflatables and the petting zoo. 

Despite all the work, Johnson enjoys seeing the finished product.

“It’s just a fun event,” Johnson said. “We need more fun on a daily basis, and this is a perfect way to do it.”

For this article, I attended the Pumptoberfest event and talked to both Johnson and Ansevin-Allen there. I took photos of students participating in the activities going on. In the interviews with Johnson and Ansevin-Allen, they told me about how the event came to exist.