Cottage Grove 'pumpkin chuck' — kid friendly, environmentally conscious
Wondering what to do with your pumpkins now that Halloween is over?
The life cycle of a pumpkin may end with it baked into a dessert, carved into artwork, or — in the case of some pumpkins in Cottage Grove, Minn., — rolled down a child’s slide and smashed at the bottom of a hill.
Brad Muckenhirn, the recreation supervisor for the city of Cottage Grove is the creator of the “pumpkin chuck.”
“I put it together a few years back just for families to get out and enjoy these fun times,” he said.
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Ten-year-old Wesley and his friend, 11-year-old Graham enjoyed their first time at the event.
“I rolled the pumpkin down the slide here … it did not go very far,” Wesley said.
Another plus of the event, it’s good for the environment.
“It's a great way to recycle pumpkins. Our local compost facility generously takes them and properly recycles the pumpkins,” said Muckenhirn. “And that compost gets turned into dirt —which could potentially be used to grow more pumpkins for next year’s pumpkin chuck.”
