Pumpkins Will Roll …

September 25, 2025 by Brandon Lichtinger

Soon, pumpkins will be rolling down the hill, pancakes will be piled high and Jerry Rose will be unveiling this year’s crop of monstrous produce at the 55th annual Huntsburg Pumpkin Festival.

“I just want to have a great festival with great weather,” said festival committee President Andy Supinski, who has been at the helm of the organization for the past six years.

Both days of the festival, held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 4 and Oct. 5., will begin with a pre-festival all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast from 8:30-11:30 a.m. in the basement of the town hall, where buttermilk and pumpkin pancakes with sausage will be served alongside locally-made maple syrup.

“The pumpkin pancakes are always a good way to start a morning,” said Supinski.

After breakfast, attendees can enjoy multiple activities around the Huntsburg Community Center, Town Hall and Park Pavilion, including checking out one of the over 50 craft vendors onsite, enjoying fair-like food from vendors — all of which appeared at this year’s Great Geauga County Fair — or scoping out classic cars behind the community center, Supinski said.

The Huntsburg Township Historical Society will also be open all day, offering attendees a stroll down the town’s memory lane.

And of course, pumpkins will roll.

“Saturday is traditionally a kids’ day,” Supinski said. “The kids roll pumpkins down the hill at the intersection of (state) routes 322 and 528. We will have different age groups and they will get prizes based on how far they roll them.”

Young people can also apply to become members of the pumpkin festival court. Geauga County female students in grades 10 through 12 are eligible to compete to become festival queen, female students in grades six through eight can apply for junior queen and male and female contestants ages 4 through 6 who reside in Geauga County can vie for the title of tot king and queen, according to the festival website.

The deadline to participate is Sept. 26 and contact information for committee members as well as application information are available at huntsburgpumpkinfestival.com.

Winners of the Giant Pumpkin and Fall Vegetable contests will also be on display throughout the weekend, Supinski said.

Victors will be determined by weight and produce will be weighed on the Thursday before the festival, he said, adding contestants can enter giant pumpkins, field pumpkins, zucchini, potatoes and tomatoes, as well as sunflowers, to be judged by inches.

Rose, a longtime pumpkin grower and festival committee member, will be judging entries. Rose’s pumpkins have routinely tipped the scales in excess of 1,500 pounds and been entered into pumpkin contests throughout the United States and Canada.

He has been on the festival board since 1992, but first entered its pumpkin contest in 1980, with a 59-pound pumpkin, he recalled.

“It’s not a beauty show, it’s just by weight,” Rose said, adding he typically competes with his giant pumpkins in the Great Geauga County Fair, the Huntsburg festival and then in the biggest show of the year, the Ohio Valley Pumpkin Growers Weigh-Off in Canfield on Oct. 11, where growers will compete for a $27,000 prize.

The Huntsburg Pumpkin Festival, however, is more about tradition and community than prize money, Rose said, adding Huntsburg is where his passion for pumpkin growing germinated when he as 10 years old.

“I’ll be up there talking pumpkins,” Rose said of the festival. “You get to see a lot of people you don’t get to see but for that one time a year. One of my biggest parts for me is to stand by the biggest pumpkins and talk to different people and maybe you’ll get them interested in growing, just like the old-timer did for me back in the day. Maybe I’m that old-timer now.”

When discussing his growing methods, Rose said he starts his pumpkins in mini-green houses in April, then keeps the growing process simple, but consistent.

“Get some good soil, some good compost, take care of the bugs and diseases, and keep the water going,” Rose said. “If you don’t keep up with the bugs and diseases, your season can be over in July.

“When pumpkins are growing good, they can (grow) 50 pounds a day,” he added. “I’ve had them grow eight inches in circumference in a 24-hour period. The best water to water anything is rain because it’s natural. Each pumpkin plant will take 100 gallons of water a day or better.”

Whether competing in the contests or just enjoying from the sidelines, the pumpkin festival will offer activities for everyone, including a four-mile trail run at 9 a.m. Oct. 5 and a one-mile fun walk at 9:15 a.m. along the trails at nearby Headwaters Park.

Dogs are invited to attend or even participate in the run, provided they’re “people and dog-friendly, licensed, fully immunized and leashed,” according to the pumpkin run website, which added dogs can be part of the run, but will not be permitted at the main festival.

“This year, we are partnering with GRIN, Golden Retrievers in Need, a golden retriever rescue group, for the run,” said Supinski. “We’re donating a portion of the proceeds from the run. This is our second year for that. We had an overwhelming turn out last year, some of which may have been due to the weather, as we had beautiful weather last year. We have our fingers crossed hoping for that this year.”

After the run, festivities will continue throughout the day, he said.

“We have a wonderful parade on Sunday at 2:15 p.m.,” Supinski said. “The Cardinal High School Band is going to be at the forefront of that parade with their marching band.”

Tim Frank, of Tim Frank Septic Cleaning Company, will serve as grand marshall of the parade, a position that the historical society Vice-President Carl Seliskar said was “well-deserved” for his longtime support of Huntsburg institutions and his community spirit.

“It’s a small-town festival,” Supinski added. “We know there’s a lot of small-town festivals that kind of go by the wayside because it takes a lot to put on a festival. You’ve got to have a good committee, a lot of volunteers chipping in to not only help organize but actually pull off a festival. There’s a lot of things behind the scenes.”

For more information on this year’s festival, visit huntsburgpumpkinfestival.com.