Wind River Grow Our Own 307 celebrated the 2020 Halloween via social media by posting carved pumpkins from 31 pumpkin carving contestants who participated in the first annual event for Fremont County. The contest was open to all, but most participation came from members of the Wind River Reservation. With prizes in three categories: the most popular, the most creative, and the most scariest; majority of the entries were not your average jack-o-lantern with eyes, a nose, and a mouth. It happened to be that the most popular pumpkin was not carved at all, but had been hand painted to take the appearance of a native cowgirl with cowboy hat and dangling beaded earrings. The winner for this category was the daughter of Dawn Buffalo, 15 year old Sophia Medina. Her popular pumpkin had the most likes and most shares, and because of this, she won a Walmart gift card for $75.
The most creative pumpkin was submitted by Kendryck Shoyo who is 8 years old and in the 3rd grade at Fort Washakie School. The creative pumpkin submitted by Kendryck was Baby Yoda. This year Wind River Grow Our Own 307 had two participants submit a carved pumpkin both resembling Baby Yoda and Shoyo took the winning prize for detail and patience.
The most scariest pumpkin winner this year was Sharmaine Weed with her Werewolf entry. This selection was picked by numerous judges in the judging category held via video where 13 judges from the Fremont County community selected one choice for most creative and one choice for most scariest.
The first annual pumpkin carving contest sponsored by Wind River Grow Our Own 307 was a big success filled with creativity and fun, both Founder Deneica Barrett and Executive Director Darrah Perez-Good Voice Elk agree this is an event they will continue to have in the upcoming future.
Deneica Barret: “We will definitely do this again!”
Darrah Perez-Good Voice Elk: “Yes, we will do this again, it was fun!”
