Festival provides service, fun for children
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Ronnie Palmer, 11, paints a vampire design on his pumpkin at the Columbia County Exchange Club ID-a-Kid Halloween Festival.
Photo by Quandra Collins
During the month of October, it's not uncommon to see a surplus of pumpkins around.
So it wasn't strange that 50 pumpkins decorated the golf course of Putt-Putt Golf and Games on Saturday as part of the Columbia County Exchange Club ID-a-Kid Halloween Festival.
"It's really a different taste of celebrating Halloween," said Putt-Putt Manager Mark Ross, an organizer of the fourth annual event.
The free event gave children the opportunity to paint a pumpkin, get an identification card made and receive a costume reflector for Halloween.
Ronnie Palmer, 11, said he was eager to participate in the attraction.
"I came out here with my cousin to play golf," said Ronnie, of Barnwell, S.C., who added that he decided to stop by and paint a vampire pumpkin after he noticed the event. "This is pretty neat, but it's hard to paint in between the crevices. I prefer carving."
Lindsey Doolittle, 9, and her sister Leslie, 7, both pupils at Stevens Creek Elementary School, devoted most of their time to painting their pumpkins.
"I'm painting a rainbow on my pumpkin and a human face," said Lindsey, whose sister, Leslie, was painting her orange pumpkin with red paint.
Each year, the participation has increased and so has the number of pumpkins, said Jeff Asselin, the organization's president.
Bob Tanner (left), of the Columbia County Auxiliary, helps Leslie Doolittle, 7, get fingerprinted while Leslie Wilke, a Columbia County sheriff's deputy, assists.
Photo by Quandra Collins
"Every year, we add 10 more pumpkins (to the batch)," he said.
Asselin said the group dedicates a lot of time to community service events such as raising money for Columbia County charities, children advocacy organizations and child enrichment centers.
"This event is just an opportunity to give back to the community," he said.