From politics to pop culture, these pumpkin ideas are smashing

When it comes to creative and crazy Halloween pumpkins, no idea was too difficult to pull off for the elected officials and other community leaders who decorated more than 40 gourds for the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits annual Be Our Guest luncheon.

Want a paean to America during election season? No problem. Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and his staff painstakingly sliced up replicas of America’s founding documents — the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights — and carefully pasted them around two pumpkins on an autumn-themed display titled “Don’t Squash Democracy.”

“It was a team effort, and we labored long and hard,” said Simitian, whose “There Ought to Be a Law” contests have famously engaged the citizenry. “The other name we had in mind was ‘Gourd Bless America.’ “

When the fundraiser started 11 years ago, the main draw was the “celebrity servers” — who wouldn’t want to be served salad and iced tea by Simitian or some other public servant?. But over time, the pumpkin decorating has taken over. The servers — and the staff members behind them — try to outdo each other every year.

“Every year, it’s absolutely amazing to see the creativity the servers and their teams use to tie in current events to Halloween,” said Patricia Gardner, the outgoing executive director of the Silicon