Soaked, seasonal fun served up at YMCA

Pumpkin Splash is longtime West End YMCA aquatic event

More than a few people weren’t sure of the answer. “Does a pumpkin float or sink?” Of the more than five dozen families that showed up Oct. 28 to the West End YMCA at 37100 Euclid Ave. in Willoughby, maybe half got the answer correct.

(By the way, pumpkins float.)

But with an event called “Aquatic Pumpkin Splash,” it was quickly realized that floating pumpkins would be the primary draw for families looking to have fun with the seasonal squash.

With attendees splashing away in two different pools, staff members and volunteers at West End gently tossed medium-sized pumpkins into the water for retrieval.

Later, names were written on the pumpkins and eager youths commenced to decorating their items with assorted paints while enjoying popcorn, pizza and lemonade.

Two two-hour sessions of Pumpkin Splash were offered, with time divided equally in the pool and the multipurpose activity room.

Secor Nursery in Perry works with West End to provide the pumpkins, Aquatics Director Sue Dietrich noted.

“We have a great relationship with them, and they’ve been assisting us for years with the event,” she said.

“I had an intern from Cleveland State and we saw

a pumpkin splash as an article in an aquatics magazine. It’s pretty much an inhouse thing here, but the event’s grown over the years and now it’s been going on for over 15 years, and people have a lot of fun with it. We try to do a lot of family things once a month. With autumn and Halloween, this just makes sense.”

As long as the Pumpkin Splash has been packing people into the West End, Kirtland resident Rose Grbavac, who attended with her two daughters, Anna and Isabella, said she was surprised to see it going on, especially since she holds a membership.

“No idea this was an annual thing. We’ve been members since the girls were in the first grade. Still, it’s fun, they like it. And I like they can paint their pumpkins here — it means less mess at home.”

“We try to do a lot of family things once a month.” — Aquatics Director Sue Dietrich

CHAD FELTON — THE NEWS-HERALD West End YMCA volunteer Julianne Wallenhorst signs a pumpkin for Sid after he retrieved it from the water on Oct. 28 during Aquatic Pumpkin Splash. More than 75 people attended the annual event.

CHAD FELTON — THE NEWS-HERALD Isabella Grbavac, left, and her sister, Anna, paint pumpkins at the West End YMCA on Oct. 28 during Aquatic Pumpkin Splash. The girls’ mother, Rose, sits with them. The annual event, which has attendees retrieve floating pumpkins from two separate pools, has been taking place for over 15 years.

CHAD FELTON — THE NEWS-HERALD Aquatics Director Sue Dietrich, in dragon regalia, hands off a pumpkin to an Aquatic Pumpkin Splash attendee on Oct. 28 at the West End YMCA on Euclid Ave. in Willoughby. The event, which has a 15-year-plus history, attracted about 75 people.

CHAD FELTON — THE NEWS-HERALD Families frolic with abandon on Oct. 28 during West End YMCA Aquatic Pumpkin Splash in Willoughby. The event has been taking place for 15-plus years.