Families wear their best costumes for Pumpkinfest parade

By Chris Fortune

Day two of the 28th annual Pumpkinfest kicked off with a parade Saturday morning.

Families came dressed in costumes to march in the parade that started at Ninth and Olive Streets and ended at the Pony Express National Museum in front of the pumpkin mountain.

A prize ceremony followed for individual kids and entire families for the best costume. A bulk of the prizes were provided by Midwest Central Outdoor and Hy-Vee provided the overall first-place prize.

A family dressed as characters from “Snow White” took home the first-place prize for the family competition and overall competition.

“It takes about a year to think of what we want to do, and then we draw out designs we want to do together,” Lisa Lauck said. “Everybody has a role to play in getting the costumes ready, and it’s really just a fun thing to do.”

Another family dressed in costumes inspired by “The Addams Family” took second place in the family competition. They took time to put their costumes together piece by piece.

“It is so much fun to be able to spend time with (my daughter) and get to win prizes with her,” Sheila Hamden said. “I actually get time away from work to get to do something with my little every once in a while.”

Pumpkinfest festivities will continue Sunday from noon to 4:30 p.m. at the Pony Express National Museum at 914 Penn St.