Pumpkin Carving At Soldiers Delight

The auditorium at SDNEA was filled with happy carvers

The visitor center auditorium at Soldiers Delight NEA was the site of SDCI's annual pumpkin carving program on the Saturday before Halloween.  Families with children and couples alike took carving implements in hand to render bright orange gourds into all manner of fanciful designs and ghoulish grins.

At 6:00 p.m. participants gathered with their pumpkins at tables adorned with bowls for discards and chose patterns from thick stacks of paper cut-outs.  Baskets filled with the accoutrements of pumpkin-carving lined one side of the auditorium, including knives, scrapers and outline-poking implements, felt-tip markers, scotch tape, tea-light candles, scissors and damp washcloths for cleanup afterward.

Participants pose with their jack-o-lanterns at the end of the program

Almost two dozen participants tried their hand at transforming pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. Everyone lined up outside afterward to display their works of art for photographs, content in the knowledge that proceeds for our annual event always go toward a worthy cause -- the rehabilitation and conservation of the unique and globally rare ecosystem that comprises Soldiers Delight NEA.