At about 2 a.m. Sunday morning, a racketing hubbub woke me. I went to an open window to listen.
"Do I smell something burning?" my drowsy mate mumbled.
"I expect all the jack-of-lanterns are lit up now and we are smelling the smoke from them."
Several blocks from our house, the small suburban community of Highwood, IL was, once again, attempting to take the world record for jack-of-lanterns. Since the city of Boston, MA has been the reigning title holder, little Highwood's efforts are a study in determination and community spirit!
Three years ago, as the local chatter tells it, Highwood held a Pumpkin Festival featuring over one-thousand jack-o-lanterns.
Then the town got bigger ideas. Last year, they tried to set a world record for the most carved and lit up pumpkins in one place at one time. I tracked that effort here.
Last year, the total counts hit about 26,000 lit lanterns. But the record is about 30,000.
This year, Highwood set its target at 32,000. And to make things even more fun, they challenged the town of Keene, NH to a friendly competition.
Ever since Monday morning, I've been hearing that, while HW fell short of the goal, they beat the world record.
30,919!
Apparently the final word is officially still out ... but the excitement is all in!
