(LOOTPRESS) – The days are getting shorter, and the leaves are starting to fall. Halloween is nearly here, and the best place to celebrate in West Virginia is at The Pumpkin House in Kenova. Each year there can be up to 30,000 visitors to the small town of Kenova to enjoy the Ceredo-Kenova Autumn Fest and its main attraction, The Pumpkin House.
The Pumpkin House has cloudy beginnings in a family tradition that began in 1978. That is the year that Ric Griffith carved five pumpkins and displayed them on the porch of his Chestnut Street home. There was one pumpkin for each member of his family at the time. Each year the tradition grew, and soon, there were up to a hundred pumpkins decorating the home around Halloween.
Mr. Griffith has deep roots in the Kenova community. He is the current owner of Griffith-Feil Drug, where he still works part-time as a pharmacist with his daughter Heidi Griffith Romero. Multiple generations of Griffiths have worked at the drug store, founded in 1892. Ric joined the staff in 1976, just two years before the birth of his pumpkin carving tradition.
The Pumpkin House moved to a historic Victorian home at 748 Beech St in 1991. The added room allowed the holiday display to grow exponentially. Quickly the carved pumpkin count hit five hundred, one thousand, and finally hit two thousand to celebrate the new millennium. These days the goal for carved pumpkins is three thousand. It takes over a thousand volunteers to move, hollow, and carve five to six hundred pumpkins daily for the week prior to the completion of the display. Even the local high school sends over volunteers to help move and empty the pumpkins. This year the pumpkin carving is scheduled to begin on October 22nd and last through the 28th. The fully lighted pumpkin masterpiece will be on display from October 29ththrough November 2nd.
In time, an entire Autumn Festival has been developed with The Pumpkin House at its center. The Ceredo-Kenova Autumn Fest activities begin on October 21st with a Pumpkin Ball (Pickle Ball) tournament, Tractor Show, and a Cruise in at Ceredo Plaza accompanied by family-friendly activities around the Plaza. The Autumn Fest parade is on October 25th, and the main events follow on October 29th. Food Trucks and vendors will line the streets around the Pumpkin House on October 29th, when the display will be complete. There is also an arts and crafts show, a traditional bake-off, a concert series, and a wrestling meet and greet.
The Pumpkin House and Autumn Fest make Ceredo and Kenova the best family Halloween destinations in the state!
For more information you can visit the Griffith-Feil Soda Fountain page at https://gfsodafountain.com/pumpkinhouse/ or the C-K Autumn Fest official page at https://www.ckautumnfest.com/.