His fun, gigantic pumpkins help people in need!
On Halloween 30 years ago, just for fun, Joel Keefer bought a 500-pound pumpkin, decorated the enormous gourd and set it out on his front porch. The reaction from his neighbors was just as huge. So he made displays of whimsical, giant pumpkins an annual tradition that attracts hundreds of visitors and raises thousands for charity
One October evening about 30 years ago, Joel Keefer was driving home from work, when he spotted some enormous pumpkins on display in a nursery. The Halloween lover just couldn’t resist.
I have to get one, he thought. Joel owned a tree-removal company and, luckily, could transport the more than 500-pound gourd in his truck.
“What are you going to do with that?!” his wife, Wyllie, asked when he got home.
“Carve it, of course!” Joel replied.
It took some heavy-duty electric saws and creativity, but Joel carved and decorated the colossal jack-o’lantern and placed it on his Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, porch. Soon, neighbors began coming by to have a look, each of their smiles brightening Joel’s heart.
So the next year, inspired by the joy he’d brought, Joel bought another humongous pumpkin.
And “The Pumpkin Guy” was born.
Smiles and hope
Each year, Joel’s giant, whimsically decorated pumpkin grew in size—until it no longer fit on his porch and had to sit in his driveway— and drew even more visitors. So many that about 15 years ago, Wyllie suggested, “Why not collect donations and gift the money to a local Pittsburgh-area charity?”
They chose to support Project Bundle-up, an annual fundraiser of The Salvation Army and WTAE-TV that provides coats and other cold-weather clothing to Western Pennsylvanians in need.
Visitors embraced the cause. On Halloween night alone, Joel and Wyllie usually collect almost $1,000
from 500 to 600 trick-or-treaters, which makes the work involved in transporting and decorating the giant pumpkins worth the monumental effort.
With his average pumpkin weighing 1,000 pounds, what started out as a oneman show has also grown to be a muchloved community project.
Joyful celebration
Keelen Bros. Inc., the tree-removal service Joel had owned and sold to his brother, Mark, when he retired two years ago, pays the $1,000, with help from customers and suppliers, to purchase the pumpkin from a farm in Ohio.
Workers from Keelen Bros. Inc., along with volunteers from the neighborhood, load the pumpkin onto Joel’s trailer, then unload it in his driveway, using a forklift and crowbars.
Joel uses power tools to remove a lid and carve shapes into the pumpkin’s walls. Someone then climbs into the chamber to scrape out the pumpkin guts, reserving the seeds to return to the farm for planting.
Joel especially enjoys decorating the pumpkin, with help from his daughter, Chelsea Cooper, and grandson, Grant. Every year, they choose a different theme and have featured characters from
Star Wars, Frozen, Spider-man, Charlotte’s Web, as well as traditional Halloween fare like witches and spiders. This year, Joel found inspiration in Universal’s mega hit movie Minions. Once decorated, Joel surrounds the pumpkin with hay bales and other autumnal accents and illuminates the scene with LED lighting.
And that’s when the real fun begins. Joel loves seeing the kids’ faces light up and eyes grow wide when they gaze at the mega pumpkin. Parents beam too, many having visited when they were children.
The Keefers have raised more than $100,000 over the years, and Joel and Wyllie have heard many touching stories from folks who have benefited from their fundraising. One memory particularly moves Joel. A girl rang the doorbell and said, “Hi Mister! I drew you a picture. Thank you very much.” She handed Joel her drawing, which showed a pumpkin and these words: Thank you for all the clothes.
“It started out as a fluke, and ended up being a love and a responsibility,” Joel says. “Halloween has always been my favorite time of year and knowing my joyful celebration of the holiday brightens so many lives makes it even more special.”
“Knowing I’m brightening so many lives makes the celebration even more special”