The Choirs fundraiser was the most successful of its kind to date. Courtesy photo

BY OLIVIA LONG

Thank you to the Los Alamos community who shopped this fall from Oct 15 to Oct 31 at the annual Pumpkin Patch Fundraiser supporting the Los Alamos Middle and High School Choirs. It has become a fall festival community event, bringing to the community the fun experience of picking out quality pumpkins of a large variety of shapes, sizes and colors right here at the Canyon Complex in Los Alamos.

Thank you also for the efforts of our many student and parent volunteers. From unloading more than 3,000 pumpkins which were delivered to us from the Navajo farms near Farmington and setting up the patch, to selling these lovely pumpkins, you helped make the pumpkin patch very appealing and a resounding success!

There were a number of different events, both new and traditional, that happened this year at the annual pumpkin patch. Some of these, like the pumpkin carving demonstrations and the roasted pumpkin samplings, were a successful introduction to expanding the pumpkin patch and making it even more interactive for our customers. The vintage pickup truck on display, artfully adorned in seasonal festive decorations, was a popular photo-op for Halloween-loving families.

During the “Pumpkin Palooza”, our very own fall festival event on Saturday, Oct 22, kids enjoyed roaming through the pumpkin patch, jumping in the bounce house and showing off their faces painted by choir students. But the craft show, where many choir students sold their own crafts and baked goods and where choir student “buskers” entertained the crowds with their singing and musical acts, really made the fundraiser so much more than that; a wholesome opportunity for the choir students to display their talents and creativity during this fun day for the community!

This fall fundraiser was our most successful of its kind to date, bringing a profit of over $8,000 for all the school choirs. A part of the proceeds will be directed to scholarship funds to help provide relief to students in financial need as the high school choir plans a trip to New York City this spring to perform at Carnegie Hall as well as other competitions within New Mexico and Colorado for the Middle and High School Choirs.

Thank you all for making this outstanding community fall festival a reality and a tremendous success!