Ariana Scott, 10, swims through pumpkins in the deep end of the pool at Arne Hanna Aquatic Center Saturday afternoon trying to decide which one she likes best. This was Scott's second year attending the Pumpkin Patch in the Pool. Photo by Hailey Tucker
Wrapped in towels, with goggles strapped tightly around their swim caps, Bellingham residents of all ages formed a line outside the aquatic center Saturday evening.
But rather than awaiting a swim lesson or weekly aerobics class, these rosy-cheeked guests, with event wristbands on, sought something not often found in a pool—pumpkins.
The Pumpkin Patch in the Pool is an annual event that has taken place at the Arne Hanna Aquatic Center, 1114 Potter St., for the past 10 years.
The event gives participants the chance to find their Halloween decorations without braving the weather.
Participants paid $5 to take a swim through the 200 pumpkins bobbing on the surface and eventually choose one to take home.
Guests who wanted to swim among the pumpkins but not actually take one home paid the regular aquatic center fee of $4 for adults and $3 for children.
Lance Romo, event coordinator for the Pumpkin Patch in the Pool, said more than anything, the event is meant to get the community interested in the aquatic center and the programs it offers.
Raynell and Edward Wurtz, Bellingham residents and frequent visitors to the aquatic center, have brought their daughter Maddie, 9, to the pumpkin patch event for three years now.
“Maddie has been taking swim lessons at the aquatic center since she was really little,” said Raynell Wurtz, as Maddie climbed carefully from the pool, lumpy orange pumpkin in hand.
The Wurtzs said they like to bring Maddie because she has fun swimming and playing with her friends.
“[Haggen] used to only give us 100 pumpkins, but the last couple of years we have run out,” Romo said. “So this year we asked if they could do 200, and they were more than willing to do that.”
Dan Moore, who recently moved to Bellingham with his girlfriend, brought his 2-year-old and 4-year old nephews to the aquatic center.
“We were looking through one of those weekend magazines to find something fun for the boys to do while they were visiting us,” Moore said.
His two nephews struggled to drag their pumpkins from the water to the final resting place near Moore’s feet.
After finding their pumpkin, attendees gathered around a yellow bucket for bob for apples.
One by one, children submerged their heads in the cold water, their squeals of excitement muted by the presence of an apple now clenched in their teeth.
Bellingham resident Cierra Grimsted, 18, came to the event with her friend Taylor DeHaven, 14, to join in the festivities. While neither of them was there to get a pumpkin, Cierra’s brother Nicholas, 9, was.
All funds raised by the Pumpkin Patch in the Pool event go toward programs being run at the aquatic center—including swim lessons, the swim team, Adapted Aquatics and the Leader in Training program.
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