Our hometown of Crete, Neb., hosted its 2nd Annual Great Pumpkin Festival this weekend and we had so much fun hosting the photo booth and meeting so many new people. This year’s festival was even bigger and better than last year’s inaugural event [read more about that here] and attracted hundreds of people to our little town. It was great to see our friends and neighbors walking through City Park and downtown. We enjoyed watching kids play carnival games, jump in the bounce house, and show off their painted faces.
Face painting was a popular activity for the kids.
We couldn’t have asked for a nicer October day for an outdoor event in Nebraska. In our state, October can bring everything from extreme sun to falling snow. Fortunately, we had just the perfect fall day with temperatures in the mid 70s and a light breeze. It was a perfect day for strolling down the sidewalks, eating pulled pork and funnel cakes, busting pinatas, and watching local groups perform in the town center.
Kids had a blast playing all kinds of games on Main Street.
In just its 2nd year, Crete’s Great Pumpkin Festival is already becoming quite the attraction. What began last fall with a few community leaders and a local retiree turned “pumpkin master,” has quickly become a citywide event that has brought our community together in a way we’ve never seen.
Crete Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kayleigh Schadwinkel and Pumpkin Master Russ Sears.
Organized by the Crete Chamber of Commerce, the festival was well supported by dozens of local businesses, including Crete True Value, Heath Sports and Tees, Nestle Purina, Pinnacle Bank, Plains Equipment Group, Public Health Solutions, Union Bank and Trust and The Crete News, just to name a few. It was just amazing to see how many businesses and community groups supported this event and we were delighted to have Postcard Jar sponsor a free photo booth.
Taking pictures at the Postcard Jar photo booth.
At our booth, we invited passersby to stop for a photograph in a fall setting complete with hay bales, scarecrows, and lots of pumpkins. Here are a few our favorites.
We also had a chance to talk to people about our blog and display our postcard jar from home and some new Crete postcards we just made. As many people told us, postcards seem to be more and more difficult to find in this electronic age and our town hasn’t had any in a very long time. People were excited to see us feature some of Crete’s iconic structures like the bell tower at Doane University, the Sherman tank at City Park, and the old bridge at the entrance to Tuxedo Park.
A few local retailers asked if they could carry our postcards in their shops, so stay tuned for more news on that. We want to thank our good friends, Ben and Nikki Piper, De’Andre Miller, and our daughter, Meghan, for helping us with our booth as well as fellow travel bloggers, Tim and Lisa Trudell of The Walking Tourists for coming to Crete to support us and see the festival.
We are so grateful to live in a community like Crete. We love the history, the diversity, everyone’s willingness to help each other, and events like Crete’s Great Pumpkin Festival that bring us all together.
[well]Did you go to the Great Pumpkin Festival? If so, what was your favorite activity? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you. [/well]
