To me, the sight of jack o’ lanterns signals Halloween night. Because of this, I was excited to attend the RISE of the Jack O’ Lanterns at Santa Anita Racetrack recently. The attraction exhibits thousands of pumpkins all hand carved before the event. The exhibit itself takes place in the dark, with the pumpkins artistically placed to resemble different structures. Some of the more complex structures include a T-Rex, racecar and even Spongebob Squarepants.
As interesting as the exhibit seemed, I did not feel it was worth the $22-$30 entrance fee. Even though it was timed entry, the event felt overcrowded, especially since the path had no organized line. Also, the pumpkin sculptures looked cool, but they started feeling repetitive.
Fortunately, you do not need to pay lots of money to enjoy jack o’ lanterns. Most grocery stores sell the usual orange “Cinderella’s Carriage” type pumpkins priced by weight. However, Pavilions in Arcadia currently sells all pumpkins for $5.99 each. In recent years, pumpkin carving has escalated beyond the simple grinning face, though if you’re not a veggie Van Gogh, holiday and craft stores like Party City and Michaels sell stencils to simplify the carving process.
These craft stores also sell hollow styrofoam pumpkins of all varieties. Not only are they sold in an assortment of fun colors, but the faux pumpkins are also cheaper, easier to carve, long-lasting and do not leave a mess.
Personally, I prefer the styrofoam pumpkins. Over the years my family has made and collected quite the compilation of carvings, which include a white Donald Duck pumpkin, a sparkly cardinal and gold pumpkin (for my USC alumni parents) and a fanged vampire pumpkin. Now that Halloween nears, I can’t wait to add another carving.