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Justin Brady: Come with me to a magical place where being labeled the Pork Queen is a compliment, where being nice is just a way of life, and where all leaders of the free world must pass through. Welcome to Iowa. Whether you’re a current Iowan, an Iowa expat, or an Iowan at heart, this show is for you. This is the Iowa Podcast, real Iowans, real talk. No drama. From the Brady Dental Care Studio, I’m Justin Brady, and it’s fall. So of course we have to talk about pumpkins here in Iowa, and to do that, I’ve invited Blair Lawton, executive director of the Anamosa Chamber of Commerce to talk about pumpkin fest in Anamosa. Thanks for coming on the show, Blair.

Blair Lawton: Thanks for having me Justin. I appreciate it. So it

Justin Brady: is. I mean, I have a lot of pumpkin questions No, this will be this will be really fun, so no, I appreciate you I appreciate you coming on the show first of all what I need to know is There’s a special year that you guys are celebrating, right? Can you tell me a little bit about that? And before you do, I just want to remind everybody, if you like Iowa content, make sure to subscribe to the show. The Iowa podcast is available on Spotify. It’s available on Apple podcasts. It’s on iHeart. It’s technically on Google podcast right now, but in case you missed the notification, Google podcast will be dying. They’re closing that and rolling it into YouTube or something. But uh, back to you, Blair, what’s the special day? Well, this is special year.

Blair Lawton: I think we are celebrating Justin. It’s the 30th anniversary of Anamosa being named the pumpkin capital of Iowa by the state legislature. So. That is a big number for us. Uh, this will be technically the 34th year of the giant way off, but 30 years since we’ve been recognized as the capital of Iowa.

Justin Brady: That’s awesome. Yeah. So 30, I mean, what does that even mean? The Anamosa being named the pumpkin capital by the Iowa state legislature. Do you get any special privileges with that?

Blair Lawton: That is a great question. It’s definitely a good thing that we can bring it up when we’re Talking to the media for sure. It’s, it’s always a good selling point that we can use throughout the year to kind of keep that constant drumbeat, keep that excitement going. Um, if you actually come down our main street, you’ll see some of like the welcome to Anamosa flags. Several of them actually do mention it being the public capital of Iowa. So nice. Um, for me, it feels like, you know, it’s, it’s great with a small community where you can see that there is something. Thriving that there has been an event that’s getting bigger and better every year. And it’s, it’s great to see that, you know, when people think of giant pumpkins, they’re thinking of Anamosa. Yes.

Justin Brady: I mean, we’re going to talk a lot about it cause it’s actually a pretty big event. I, I, I’d never heard of pumpkin fest sadly. And as I looked into it, it’s, it’s like how many days is, is three days. Is that right?

Blair Lawton: It is. * The majority of our events happen on Saturday. So we actually have 18 events happening Saturday, but, um, we have some stuff on Thursday and Sunday too. So Thursday night, uh, this has sort of become the, um, I want to say unofficial kickoff to Pumpkin Fest, but we have what we call a pumpkin roll. We take, uh, 200 pumpkins, uh, people can purchase tickets, they get a number assigned to them. We roll down those, roll those pumpkins down the biggest hill in town and, uh, the top three will get some cash prizes. So that’s always kind of a good way to kick things off. Uh, but as I mentioned, Saturday, ton of events throughout the day, looking forward to kind of chatting with you more about those. And then Sunday, it closes up in the morning, the Rotary organizes a pancake breakfast. And one of our local country clubs also organizes a four person best shot. So it’s really a three-day event. * So I want to ask all

Justin Brady: about all the events that you guys are doing, but the first thing I need to ask is like, why, why pumpkins? Like how did this whole thing, what’s the background of pumpkin fest? Why did the people of Anamosa suddenly decide like, Hey, we’re all about the pumpkin here. What’s the, what’s that story?

Blair Lawton: Absolutely. So our original organizers, Greg and Nancy Norland, had actually done this to honor their son, Ryan. That’s the Ryan Norland Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off. He had died in a tragic boating accident. They had started to kind of put this together, but decided to keep it going in his name. And it’s really grown over the years. So when this originally started, it was just the Weigh Off. The actual celebration across town started the following year. Got

Justin Brady: it. So that this, this was actually, that was going to be a question is what’s the significance with Ryan Norlin. And so the whole pumpkin fest started out as just the way off in his honor, correct? Absolutely. And then it evolved into something way, way bigger over the years. How, when was this founded then?

Blair Lawton: So 1989 would have been the first year of the way off. And then the actual town festival started in conjunction with that the following year.

Justin Brady: So what’s the, obviously I want to talk about the event, but let’s talk about the way off first then, um, uh, like why, tell me a little bit about the connection with Ryan and the way off. Was he, uh, obviously he was very young when he passed. Was there a connection to pumpkins? Like what, what’s the connection there? Yeah,

Blair Lawton: basically what his father, Greg, has told me is that pumpkins was something that Ryan really loved, um, that he would grow them with his uncle. So I think that was a connection. They wanted to find something as a way to, um, honor and remember Ryan by also doing something that he loved to do.

Justin Brady: Yeah. I mean, it turned into something huge. Uh, I was, you know, obviously before, uh, before this show, I was researching it and I was like, my word, this is a big deal. There’s a lot going on. Um, so I do have to ask. What is that? I mean, you weigh pumpkins, right? And then there’s like an award for doing that. * What’s the reward and what’s the record so far? Is there a record? There are absolutely, there’s a ton of awards. There’s a lot of different categories. The overall prize money that the way off gives out is just a little bit over 20,000 So, but there are several awards going all the way from giant pumpkins going all the way down to, to field pumpkins. We also have awards for. you know, watermelons and gourds. Um, and we have had, you know, records throughout the past. We actually had a state record setting pumpkin last year that weighed 2,424 pounds is grown over the years. I know I talked with Greg and Nancy the other day. I believe they told me that inaugural year it was somewhere around 240 pounds, uh, was the winner. So it’s grown basically tenfold over the last 34 years. * Justin Brady: Okay. So 2, 424 pounds. I gotta ask, how’d they get

Blair Lawton: it there? They, um, yeah, they bring in, they haul in these things in on a truck. What? Um, and it’s always interesting, um, so they’ll be at the community center, so there’s a lot of stuff that folks can come and see and check those out. I think one of my favorites is the, the top three heaviest pumpkins we actually put on a, a big truck that Makoketa Valley Electric Cooperative owns, and then we’ll actually have those throughout the parade. There’ll actually be a contingent in the parade. So I think folks always get a, Get a kick out of that. It’s one thing I think to see him indoors, but it’s also one thing to see the three biggest ones on a large truck driving down Main Street later in the day,

Justin Brady: right? So there’s a lot going on. That is actually really funny. I’ve always kind of, I was like 2400 just like even if I had, um, like big equipment and like a forklift, I don’t even know how I’d lift something like that without breaking it. So that’s, that’s actually really interesting. Uh, so it’s a pretty big deal. And

Blair Lawton: that’s sort of, um, Oh, sorry. I was going to say that’s one of the risks that the New Orleans always talk about. I think, you know, every year we hear horror stories about somebody who’s got a giant pumpkin and then it, you know, falls falls off the vine the week before. So it can be a challenge moving those big ones.

Justin Brady: So funny. I mean, there’s got to be a whole science into how these things are grown, how they’re managed, how they’re protected. I mean, it’s just crazy. You see that you see some of the big pumpkins at the fair, but I don’t know. Do you hold a record over the fairgrounds then? Do you know that?

Blair Lawton: So we, I mean, so we have the state record for largest pumpkin from Iowa. So I’m not entirely sure if they get, you know, we get a lot of enter entries from different states. This, the pumpkin we had was a 2,401 from psa. I’m not entirely sure if there’s been bigger ones in that at the state fair. I mean, if you hold the

Justin Brady: record for Iowa though, that would have to count, right? Don’t you beat the fair then? If you hold the record for Iowa.

Blair Lawton: I, I would think so. Yeah. Like I’m saying, I don’t know if there’s people from other states that come to the state fair and have beaten that, but ours is the biggest one for a, you know, a state grown pumpkin happening in an event in

Justin Brady: Iowa. Well, maybe, maybe we need to have a pumpkin cage match. Maybe you can have that next year and you can invite the Iowa state. I would welcome the challenge. You can welcome the Iowa state fair people. pumpkin cage match. And if they have a problem with you setting the record, they can take it up with you in the cage. So there, there’s a lot going on. Like I said, um, they’re, they’re pumpkin toss, pumpkin carvings, smoking pumpkins, escape rooms, dunk tank, car smash, tons of stuff. But I want to start here. Which is, what is the, this sounds absolutely fascinating and it’s actually a concept I think I saw on Shark Tank, um, but it’s called the Boomerang Equipment Rodeo. What is

Blair Lawton: this? Absolutely. So, um, Boomerang is one of the, uh, the biggest employers in town. They’re one of our, also one of our platinum sponsors for Pumpkin Fest. Uh huh. So, um, basically we’ll have them in one of the city lots. They’re gonna bring some of their construction equipment. And, um, it’s actually, they actually do some, uh, prizes as well, based on things like speed and accuracy. So this can be a, a good opportunity for somebody that’s maybe done it, or maybe as an expert on it to, to get behind, um, of some of the, get the behind the scenes of some of that machinery. Supervised, absolutely, but, um, it’s a good opportunity for folks to, um, kind of see what a little bit of, get a little taste of what construction’s all about. Now,

Justin Brady: okay, so what are they actually doing, though? Are they moving, because you say speed and accuracy, so are they… Yeah, sorry demolishing buildings, or are they moving pumpkins?

Blair Lawton: Nothing, nothing that exciting. It’ll be things like moving pumpkins, so I think it’s still a… Can be a good kick for some folks getting a chance to use some of the cranes and things like that. Pick up a pumpkin and move it from one end of the lot to the other.

Justin Brady: So it’s like an agility course for a backhoe kind of a thing.

Blair Lawton: Yeah, that would be a good way

Justin Brady: to describe it. Yeah, I’m a communications professional if you can’t tell. So, so they have to pick up a pumpkin. Without, I’m assuming they have to pick up the pumpkin with this backhoe or big, big equipment and they have to move it without breaking it. Is that like all kind of like an egg, like one of the egg races, but with a backhoe or big machine equipment, is this kind of, am I giving a good picture

Blair Lawton: here? I think you’re starting to get a sense of it. Um, and I’ll hop this in here, a little plug for the viewers. But if you go to animosa pumpkin fest dot com and click on the logo for the equipment rodeo, there’s actually a really cool graphic on there. Of a loader picking up a pumpkin that boomerang is put together for us.

Justin Brady: That’s super cool. Okay. So, um, yeah, that’s, that’s interesting. I was seeing like a concept in shark tank where this guy, I don’t remember what city it was, but he was essentially for a fee you could rent or not rent, but you could use all this big equipment, equipment and move dirt around and people were like paying lots of money to do this. So you’re definitely tapping into this trend because I think there are a lot of people that like

Blair Lawton: want to use something. Definitely something you’re unable to do every day, right? Yeah, there are

Justin Brady: a lot of people who want to use this big equipment and yeah Like you said you’re not this is not a thing that you’re allowed to do you Sadly, uh, the iowa dot does not let you just go jump on their tractors and stuff on the highway And uh, i’ve never tried but i’m pretty sure it’s illegal So it’s not illegal at pumpkin fest. Um So what is it? I want to know what’s up with the pumpkin toss. Is this, what is this? Is this, uh, are they using catapults of some type or are you just like literally straight up tossing these things? What’s that like? Yeah,

Blair Lawton: so it’s geared towards kids 12 and younger. So it really is. Yeah. People, people just tossing the pumpkin. So you can pause, uh, so you can throw the farthest. So it’s kind of a free event typically that folks, uh, 12 and younger can have. Uh, we’ll have it in, um, the, uh, one of the law office parking lots in town. So it’s a little controlled environment, but it is a lot of fun. And we actually, um. I mentioned a little earlier about the pumpkin roll. Well, actually, uh, the surviving pumpkins from that will actually take it to the pumpkin toss. Because you have

Justin Brady: 18 events in total. And the other one I wanted to ask about is smoking pumpkins. Is this a basically a barbecue cook off kind of thing?

Blair Lawton: It is. I believe this is the second year that this has happened. So it’s a barbecue contest in town. Um, it basically is, you know, it’s, it’s unfortunately not an opportunity for folks to come and taste the barbecue. Um, that’s just something that, you know, that the judges are able to do, but it is still kind of a cool event to come and check out, you know, we’ve been, it’s been growing every year. I think last I heard we had 16, uh, barbecue pitmasters signed up so far. So it’s definitely something I every year.

Justin Brady: Yeah, that’s really cool. And so there’s an escape room, dunk tank, car smash. I’m assuming those are kind of self explanatory, but do you make an escape room or is it partnered with a nearby escape room? Is it, is it pumpkin themed?

Blair Lawton: So it’s actually partnered between, uh, the parks and rec who run the community center and the Anamosa library and learning center. So The library actually comes down and uses some of the, the rooms at the community center and builds out the escape room. It’s not like one that’s here year round. They’ll put it together just for Pumpkin Fest.

Justin Brady: Got it. And what’s new this year? Like, what are the new things you’ve added for people that have already been there?

Blair Lawton: Yeah, so we have a few new things. Like you mentioned the dunk tank. That’ll be the first year that we’ve had that. The state historical society, they have a mobile history museum that they’ve been working to try to bring to every county. And so, for the 1st time ever, they’ll actually be bringing it here pumpkin fest. So that’ll be set up at the library on Saturday. And we also have a. An art community, an organization called Arts Court, they are putting together what they call the Temple of Doom, that’ll be a haunted house at night. So, those are really the three completely new additions to

Justin Brady: this year. So where do all these pumpkins come from? Cause it’s not like, do people have to bring their own? Are you partnering with a local grower? Um, where do they all come from? How many are brought in? I’m, I’m curious if you have all the data on that. I

Blair Lawton: don’t have a lot of that data in front of me, unfortunately. Um, as far as like the pumpkins we use for like the pumpkin roll and pumpkin toss, we purchased those from a local grower who lives just outside of town. Um, as far as the giant pumpkins that come in, um, you know, generally we’ll see. Pumpkins from all of the border states. Um, and there is, I mean, quite a few amount. I don’t have a list in front of me of what the signups look like this year, but it’s definitely I’ll say for folks is that are going to be there on Saturday. The community center is always will be full of giant pumpkins.

Justin Brady: So funny. I got. Okay. Do you also have to? I mean, this is the other big question everybody wants to know Blair is, are you part of the cleanup crew? Is this something you have to do by yourself or do you have a crew for that?

Blair Lawton: We thankfully we’ve got a great committee and a great volunteer base here in Anamosa. That’s, that’s very helpful and I’m very lucky to have them. Um, so we have a Group that’s been, uh, we started back in November meeting monthly. That 1st kind of meeting last year is more of a debrief of 2022, but we’ve been meeting monthly. And then once we got into September, we started meeting weekly. So we’ve got a lot of volunteers that are putting these events together. We’ve got a volunteer crew that puts together a kid zone. And thankfully, we have a lot of volunteers that are helping with the cleanup, not only at the end of the day, but throughout the day as well. Want to make sure things are are nice and clean for community members. Yes.

Justin Brady: So I want to talk a little bit about, I know that you, um, as a, as a community, Anamosa were working on a facade project. What’s the status of that?

Blair Lawton: Yeah, that’s a great question. Um, I’m not completely honest on that one. To be honest, that’s something that, um, economic development is kind of handled the most part of it. Um, you know, we have one side of the street that did get done last year, and, and that’s been nice to see. Like these buildings are looking good. We’ve been able to start filling some of these empty streets downtown. Um, the, uh, the other side of the street is slated to start in 2024. Um, I think the exact date and time on that is a little bit up in the air though.

Justin Brady: Sure. And now you’re saying that it is attracting retailers back into these spaces?

Blair Lawton: Um, I would say so. I’m actually, um, the Chamber of Commerce, we’re actually in one of the spaces that got redone and that’s, that’s looking great. I’m excited to be

Justin Brady: here. And what’s the history of that space? Because I think it probably, you know, Anamosa, I think you have a town about 5, people, correct? Yep. And so for those that don’t know, what’s the history of those spaces that you’re in right now?

Blair Lawton: Yeah, that’s a great question. I mean, we have multiple buildings on Main Street that have been here since the 1880s. Um, the 1 that I’m in, I have not actually heard for sure how old this building is. It’s been a, you know, a number of different things has been in here. The nest 20 years or so from an ice cream shop to a. A pizza ranch to a vendor village, um, but yeah, I mean, there are definitely some old buildings here and in the community. And that’s, that’s 1 thing. I’m excited about. I’m also from a very small community and. I would say growing up that unfortunately was a community that tore down a lot of her old buildings rather than redoing them. And thankfully, animals has been the opposite of that that we’ve been able to keep some of this history and charm. Now,

Justin Brady: correct me if I’m wrong, because I’m going off memory, so this might be an embarrassing moment for me, Blair, but is Grant Wood from Anamosa, or at least the nearby area?

Blair Lawton: The nearby area. So he is technically filmed in the city. Which is about five, five miles away. Got it. Do you

Justin Brady: get a lot of Grantwood tourism then? For those that don’t know Grantwood, of course, famous Iowa artist.

Blair Lawton: Yeah, we definitely do get some tourism for that. So we’ve got, uh, the Grantwood art gallery is actually just across the street from me. So that’s, that’s open throughout the week. Folks can come and check those out. Uh, we’ve got some murals around town. Uh, for a while we did have, uh, two giant Grantwood statues. Those unfortunately aren’t here anymore. Um, Transcribed And then one of our newer additions in town, Porfirio’s Mexican Restaurant, um, actually put up some Grant Ward inspired murals for kind of the Day of the Dead. So those are actually looking pretty cool as well. There is definitely some good theming with Grant Wood around here.

Justin Brady: And you said the museum’s right across the street from you? I didn’t know that. Yep. And, um, how many, so I’m assuming, is it all original Grant Wood works in the museum

Blair Lawton: then? That is a great question. I’m not 100 percent on that one

Justin Brady: to be honest. I didn’t actually know that. I knew he was from around that area, but I didn’t know you had a museum right there in downtown. That’s actually kind of fascinating. So, um, I, I did. I want to run some pumpkin trivia with you really quick if you don’t mind Blair will test your pumpkin knowledge, and if you completely fail, that’s okay No worries, well, we’ll still send people we still want people to check out pumpkin fest obviously and head to animosa It does sound like a lot of fun And I hope people check out the website because there’s I mean, you know, like I said earlier, there’s a Ton of stuff, there’s even, we didn’t even talk about the country club hosting, the four person best shot, uh, car smash, all sorts of stuff, but, but, but, but right now it’s time for pumpkin trivia. What started the popularity? So okay. We got it. Like. Gotta get ready for this, but, uh, pumpkin trivia, there, there are no prizes, if you want prizes, you have to head to the pumpkin fest, but, first question is, what started the popularity of pumpkins, and have they always been associated with fall?

Blair Lawton: That is a great question. I mean, I’m gonna assume maybe they’ve been associated with fall, just because that, that growing season is, It’s generally like late spring, early summer, pick in the fall. I mean, I’m going to, I’m going to guess Halloween, but I have no clue on that one, to be honest.

Justin Brady: All right. And here’s the next question. I’ll just, uh, and we’re going to add in the buzzing and all that stuff. No, I’m just kidding. We’re totally not going to do that. People can look this up. Um, next question is. What is the worst? This is kind of something you get a… No, actually, how many species of pumpkins? So that’s the next question, is how many species of pumpkins are there?

Blair Lawton: Ooh, I’m assuming there’s a, there’s a ton. I’m just gonna say 40.

Justin Brady: Uh, yeah, so, I guess it’s disputed, but there are at least 150 or more. Um, and, uh, before I let you go, two questions for you and the Pumpkin Fest expertise that you have is, what is the worst pumpkin food you have ever tasted? And, of course, if it’s someone that’s like a chamber member or something, you can, like, not use that one.

Blair Lawton: I mean, I don’t know if I’ve ever tasted a pumpkin that wasn’t good.

Justin Brady: Oh, okay. All right. We’ll let it go. We’ll let that slide. And at during Pumpkin Fest, what is the most unexpected use for pumpkins you have seen or it could be outside of Pumpkin Fest?

Blair Lawton: Ooh, unexpected use. I’m just looking through our events here really quick. Yeah, I don’t know if there’s an unexpected use. Um, this’ll be another new thing, though. We have a 5k run in the morning. So traditionally you go to a run and you might get medals if you place certain high, a certain spot high enough in your age category. This year, for the first time, we’re actually going to be giving out pumpkins.

Justin Brady: Oh, instead of medals or with?

Blair Lawton: Yeah, there’ll be like a pumpkin with a medal included with that. So it’ll be a kind of an interesting touch, something you don’t necessarily see every day. Go to a. 5k race and come home with a pumpkin.

Justin Brady: All right. So Blair, uh, Blair Lotton, executive director of the Anamosa chamber of commerce, we’re talking about pumpkin fest Blair before I let you go, tell everybody when it is and what the website is so people can register and come check it out.

Blair Lawton: Absolutely. So, um, it’s this Saturday through, sorry, this Thursday through Sunday. The big day is Saturday, October 7th. Uh, the majority of our events are right here in downtown Anamosa. Um, I encourage people to check out the website. It’s Anamosapumpkinfest. com. We’re also on Facebook at facebook. com slash Anamosa PFest.

Justin Brady: Awesome. Blair Lawton, executive director of the Anamosa Chamber of Commerce. Thank you so much for coming on the Iowa podcast. I appreciate it.

Blair Lawton: I appreciate you having me,

Justin Brady: Justin. And to my fellow Iowans, Iowa expats and Iowans at heart. Thanks for listening and Subscribing to the Iowa Podcast.