WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Pumpkin Regatta is a Smashing Hit

Pumpkin Regatta is a Smashing Hit

Burlington, Vermont - October 11, 2009

They say this wasn't the best growing season for pumpkins due to all the rainy weather earlier this past summer. But you'd never know it from the pumpkins that were hauled out Sunday -- all for a good cause.

If you didn't already know, pumpkins can be used for more than pies and casseroles. They float. They may not be as fast a good sailboat, but they can be raced. And thus was born the Pumpkin Regatta.

This was only the second year of the event, and it's taking off. It looked like about 3000 people watched, and the weather could not have been better for a crisp Fall day. In fact, all three TV stations' weather casters showed up for the race, including our own Sharon Meyer.

"The worse that can happen out there is you get really wet, right?" she said before climbing into a huge hollowed out pumpkin. Actually, most of them are gourds, similar to a pumpkin. And they weigh in the many hundreds of pounds.

So what's this all about? It's a fund raiser for a program called PILOT, which teaches high school students the principles of leadership. It's sponsored by the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce. Event organizer Cari Kelley said, "It gets them out in front of some of the leaders within Vermont and meeting other people and just a real hands-on career-awareness experience."

Not a bad idea, giving young Vermonters a leg up. The Chamber says it uses various means to raise funds for its programs -- and that the organization is about half way to its goal of raising $45,000 for the program.

It looks like the Pumpkin Regatta is on for next year, too.

Andy Potter - WCAX News