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<p>HARVEYS LAKE &#8212; Community residents mustered up their best carving skills Saturday, cutting, scooping and coloring away at the annual Harvey&#8217;s Lake Recreational Committee&#8217;s pumpkin-carving contest.</p><p>Halloween-themed music blared outside Jonathan&#8217;s Bar and Grille, while inside about 60 people were preparing pumpkins for judging.</p><p>Committee volunteer and event coordinator Patti Adamshick said the free, all-ages event has been going on for more than five years now, with Jonathan&#8217;s hosting the contest for the past three.</p><p>&#8220;We used to have it elsewhere, but we outgrew (that space),&#8221; she said, noting that event has gained public interest over the years.</p><p>The committee provides all carving and decorating supplies for the event, as well as a free lunch and candy bags for children. A free hayride was also on-site. The only thing one needs is a pumpkin to carve.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve had some really creative pumpkins over the years,&#8221; said committee secretary Lori Kucewicz. &#8220;It&#8217;s a fun little community thing to get into.&#8221;</p><p>The contest was split into five age groups and had an overall winner. Children were also welcomed to place their names inside a basket for a chance to win one of two bicycles.</p><p>Seven-year-old TJ Valatka, of Larksville, was placing the finishing touches on side of his pumpkin about halfway through the event. Valatka&#8217;s pumpkin was simple yet unique: the top carved out and lifted up with a skeleton&#8217;s head and hands sticking out.</p><p>With one side completed, he turned the orange gourd around to begin carving out the back.</p><p>&#8220;He always does both sides,&#8221; his mother, Tammy, said as she helped him carve.</p><p>Sitting at a back table with family and friends, the events two judges were busy watching everyone carve away at their pumpkins &#8212; and keeping tab of who exactly was doing the carving.</p><p>&#8220;For me, it&#8217;s for the kids,&#8221; said judge and Harvey&#8217;s Lake resident Liz Mack. &#8220;I like to see the kids do it &#8212; not the adults do it for them.&#8221;</p><p>Florida resident and judge Jeff Glasser said he enjoys seeing originality and creativity.</p><p>Glasser, who owns a property on the lake, comes up from the Sunshine State in the fall to spend time with family and friends.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a great family bonding time,&#8221; he said of the event.</p><p>By 6p.m., children clad in their Halloween costumes placed roughly 30 pumpkins on the judging table.</p><p>As Mack called everyone to the front of the room to reveal the contests winners, there was one final pumpkin to be placed on the table.</p><p>Perhaps the most intricate of all, Wilkes-Barre resident Kathy Evans admitted she had a late start to creating her pumpkin as she didn&#8217;t arrive until a half-hour after the event began.</p><p>Evans created a miniature version on Cinderella&#8217;s horse-drawn pumpkin for the contest. With a glittery silver paint and green vine details, Evans said she spent two weeks trying to come up with an idea for the contest.</p><p>&#8220;I sit here and think of things. Sometimes I shock myself,&#8221; she said.</p><p>&#8220;I love doing this,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I had fun.&#8221;</p><p>Her Cinderella creation ultimately won as the overall best pumpkin.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Pumpkin carvers work on their pumpkins. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump7_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Pumpkin carvers work on their pumpkins. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump6_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Brian Hilburt, 38, of Harveys Lake, works on his pumpkin as a finished one with a flower carved into it sits in the foreground at Jonathan&#8217;s Bar and Grill, Lakeside Drive, Harveys Lake. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump6_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>Brian Hilburt, 38, of Harveys Lake, works on his pumpkin as a finished one with a flower carved into it sits in the foreground at Jonathan&#8217;s Bar and Grill, Lakeside Drive, Harveys Lake. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump5_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">When the pumpkins were done being carved, they were put on display and later judged at Jonathan&#8217;s Bar and Grill on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump5_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>When the pumpkins were done being carved, they were put on display and later judged at Jonathan&#8217;s Bar and Grill on Saturday. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump3_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Teagan Hilburt, 9, from Blandon, works on carving her pumpkin at Jonathan&#8217;s Bar and Grill. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump3_faa.jpg</photo3><caption3>Teagan Hilburt, 9, from Blandon, works on carving her pumpkin at Jonathan&#8217;s Bar and Grill. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Teagan Hilburt, 9, from Blandon, works on carving her pumpkin as her grandfather Bill Hilburt, of Harveys Lake, watches as she carves Saturday at a pumpkin-carving contest in Harveys Lake. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump2_faa.jpg</photo4><caption4>Teagan Hilburt, 9, from Blandon, works on carving her pumpkin as her grandfather Bill Hilburt, of Harveys Lake, watches as she carves Saturday at a pumpkin-carving contest in Harveys Lake. </caption4><photoCredit4>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump4_faa1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Selena Adamschick, 24, of Harveys Lake, carves an owl in her pumpkin as her uncle, Rich Harris, of Florida, holds a light inside the pumpkin so she could she her carving. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_pump4_faa1.jpg</photo5><caption5>Selena Adamschick, 24, of Harveys Lake, carves an owl in her pumpkin as her uncle, Rich Harris, of Florida, holds a light inside the pumpkin so she could she her carving. </caption5><photoCredit5>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Marcella Kester | Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach the Times Leader newsroom at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter @TLnews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Annual pumpkin-carving contest at Harveys Lake brings out creativity