Anyway.
I started promoting the Fragile X Parade of Pumpkins in March of this year. From the beginning I had the whole thing in mind and how big I wanted it to be. It was hard to explain the concept to other people as putting pumpkins on display for auction to benefit families affected by Fragile X without it coming across like a family Halloween party.
Anyway, I am so grateful that I was able to, in some way, help some get the dream I had in mind.
It was so amazing that at the time we officially started our event there were actually people at the door. People I didn't even know! That was, in and of itself, awesome! I thought for sure I would most likely get friends and family there. But, it was awesome to meet people who had heard about it on Facebook, the Internet, The KUTV Pay it Forward TV spot, my blog, The Down Syndrome Association Newsletter, or by word of mouth.
I know this sounds bad, being my first event and all, but I have NO idea how many people came. We were so excited to see people coming and I was so anxious to meet them all that I completely forgot to keep a head count. But I do know we had just under 100 pumpkins!
There were a lot of friends and family there too. I felt so loved and so supported. It was a great feeling to have success our first time around. This was the first of many, and at least, now I'll know what I am doing for next time.
But, that's the way we learn, right?
Trial and error.
Trial and success.
Success and improvement.
I want to thank Chelsea of Gallery Image Photography for taking the photos for our event. I am so glad that we have so many images of the fun pumpkins we had.
And I want to thank my aunt Rosanne for making a great video of the fun stuff especially the high speed video of Aaron carving his pumpkin:
I have to show a couple of my favorite memories of the event.
Jessie painting a mustache on one of the kids who came.
And my Cosmo Pumpkin along side the soccer ball that Marc painted and Jessie's Dracula. Those were my 3 favorite. (Marc also painted the baseball, football, and basketball on this same table.)
There are already families talking about what they are going to do next year and bets being placed on who will win bragging rights for bringing in the highest bid on their pumpkin. The winning pumpkin display this year was actually a trio brought in the second day and went for $250!! They were the tiny ones too!
And I want to thank Aaron for being the inspiration for this entire thing.
I feel very blessed.
I am also VERY excited that we were able to find 3 other families affected by Fragile X Syndrome that only heard our Association existed because of all the publicity from all this. And that, my friends, is on of the the great reasons I keep doing this. To reach out to other families and to advocate for our children and families.
It was so much fun to teach people who were curious about Fragile X Syndrome. I think that is also one of the things I liked so much about this particular venue was the personal basis of it all. It gave me a chance to meet so many people and help them put a face and meaning to Fragile X.
Thank you to all who made this possible:
Aaron
Jessie
Amanda
Brittany
Judy and James
Chad and Jennifer
Lindsey
Aleesa and Todd
Michelle
Alexa
Brittany
Grace
Shauna and Mike
Lynne and Gary
Heather
and all the others who donated pumpkins, money, food and decorations!
Now that my pumpkins are done, I think I will go have some ice cream.
... pumpkin... a la mode...
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