Pumpkin Olympics

Many years ago at Memorial Park Church the tradition of using up leftover pumpkins for sport known as Pumpkin Olympics came to be. In recent years this tradition was brought back with the Jr High students. Thanks to Jr high student leader Jen Kerr for writing about the fun evening.

 You walk into the youth center, not knowing what to expect. Jr High Youth Group's annual pumpkin olympics tonight. But what you find is kids having a blast with their leaders dressed as farmers. A typical youth group night includes fun, games, an awesome talk and great small group time. But once a year during the Pumpkin Olympics, the normal schedule is tossed aside to make room for pure fun in an environment where kids can be themselves while growing in the Lord. At the start of the Olympics, the kids break up into their grades and make crazy, ridiculous pumpkins to be their mascot. Throughout the night, pumpkins are destroyed and salvaged all in the hopes of winning a medal. The night was cool and crisp and we had plenty of light thanks to the fire department lending us a firetruck for the night, which was its own fun. And as the pumpkins became scarce, and the gold, silver and bronze handed out, the kids thought their night was winding down. But us leaders had another suprise for the kids. We brought back something we hadn't done in awhile: The Gutter Ice Cream Sunday! A gutter stuffed with ice cream and every sundae topping that can be imagined. The kids went wild. It was a great end to a fun filled night. I cant wait for next years Pumpkin Olympics!