Pumpkin Day in the Eighth Grade

By James M.
 

Pumpkins come in many different shapes and sizes, but for the sixty-three eighth graders at Irwin Park, the golden pumpkin was all that mattered. After arriving at the park and learning about what the day had in store, we split into six teams: The Decepticons, The Brahmans, The Dalits, The Narwhals, The Winners, and last but not least, Gryffindor. After a day including various fun and team-building activities such as Halloween charades and a pumpkin relay, the six groups prepared for the climax of their day—The Tour de Pumpkin. In the first challenge of the tour, each team had to run a pumpkin up a hill, while each member of the team had his or her hand on the pumpkin. After a strong performance, The Decepticons took the lead. The next event's winner was determined by who could roll a pumpkin the closest to a flag in the ground. Each team chose a representative to roll their pumpkin. Gryffindor's Brandon Salvatore won the event, rolling his pumpkin 8 feet and 11 inches away from the flag. In the next event each team had to roll its pumpkin up a hill as fast as they could. Each team experimented with very different rolling techniques, but in the end, Gryffindor prevailed. With one event to go, Gryffindor thought they had it, but The Decepticons thought otherwise.

With only the pumpkin long roll left in the tour, The Decepticons had victory in their sights. With Christian Arntzen representing The Decepticons and living legend Corey Wieczoreck representing Gryffindor, everyone knew it was going to be a close match. The event was won by Sean McEwen, but Christian was the runner up. After the event was finished, we were all eager to find out what team was the winner. We soon found out that there was no winner—Gryffindor and The Decepticons were in a deadlock tie. It all came down to a sudden death pumpkin relay. Each member had to run a pumpkin to third base and back, and then pass it on to the next teammate in line. After everyone had gone, it came down to two of the fastest people in the 8th grade, Jack Lane and Corey Wieczoreck. Corey had a slight lead when he got the pumpkin, but it seemed as if Jack was closing the gap. Right before he stepped past the finish line, Corey looked over to his right and saw that Jack was behind him. Moments later, Gryffindor had won the race, as well as the whole tour. Gryffindor came out on top again, although this time instead of snatching the golden snitch, they snatched the golden pumpkin.