Tri Kappa Pumpkin Project

In 2009, the Warsaw chapter of Tri Kappa celebrated 100 years of service to the community. In this, its 103rd year of service, they continue to carry-on the tradition of service through the annual pumpkin project.

For 17 years Tri Kappa members have designed, hand painted and decorated thousands of pumpkins for sale, and each year Tri Kappa sells out of them. This year, the tradition continues.

More than 1,000 hours will be spent over the next few weeks to clean, prepare, paint, decorate and deliver almost 1,000 pumpkins purchased by community members. The profits from this annual project support local charity, culture and education.

As part of Tri Kappa’s support of local education, Tri Kappa has given away tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to local students. “Each year we are able to support over $10,000 in local scholarships with pumpkin profits, and other projects. However, no project has proven to be a more enjoyable or bigger undertaking than pumpkins!” says Courtney Walters, Tri Kappa Pumpkin Committee co-chair.

Other local charities and cultural activities also benefit from the money raised by Tri Kappa. According to Sarah Anderson, co-chair, “The annual pumpkin season for Tri Kappa started months ago with the design for this year’s pumpkins (a boy scarecrow and a sweet scarecrow girl with a bow). Many hours then go in to preparing the accessories used in the design, and in the weeks to come, the cleaning, prep work and painting will be done. Finally, Tri Kappa members will fan out across the county to deliver the pumpkins.”

Pumpkins are $12 each and include free delivery. Orders are taken now until pumpkins sell out. Anyone interested in giving a pumpkin as a fall gift can order one with a personalized gift tag for an additional $1 to be delivered to the lucky recipient.

For more information, visit Tri Kappa’s booth at First Friday’s this Friday, where pre-orders will be taken, or next month when pumpkins will be available for cash and carry.

Anyone interested in ordering can ask a Tri Kappa member, contact tkpumpkins2012@gmail.com or call Colleen at (574) 267-6021.

Caption: The 18th annual Tri Kappa pumpkin design includes a boy scarecrow and a girl scarecrow featuring a “hair bow”. Pumpkins are $12 each and support Tri Kappa charitable, cultural, and educational programs in the community.