SUPERIOR – Bringing the spirit of Halloween to kids early, the Mineral County Library, in Superior, held their seventh annual pumpkin decorating contest Thursday.

The free event was sponsored by the Friends of the Library and held on the lawn out front of the library. The pumpkin decorating contest is a highly anticipated event that kids seem to look forward to.

“Children wait all year for the event, asking ‘when will it be, when will it be’,” said Guna Chaberek, director of the Mineral County Library.

During the event, children were huddled around tables, or on the lawn itself, deeply engrossed in their work for the 20 minute design period. The entrants had a whole variety of possibilities to work with. Some drew faces on their pumpkin with permanent markers while others used pop-out wood or plastic features. There was also colored string to be used as hair or whatever else creativity dictated.

As the countdown was called out, the pace of work quickened. Those who hadn’t finished their entry yet became frantic as they worked to get as many details on as they could. Their frantic thoughts were apparent as they talked to themselves or their pumpkin, in hopes that time might be slowed down.

When time was called, all entries were arrayed for judging. The side of the library looked like an odd pumpkin patch as dozens of faces stared out from the four clusters. During the judging, however, the lawn was anything but calm.

As the judging got under way, all-out war broke out as kids of all ages began playing in the leaves around the library’s lawn. Kids chased each other around and threw leaves at anything that moved, and sometimes things that did not. Not even bystanders were safe as many children ran up with a bundle of leaves and tossed them at their parents or anyone else they encountered. The announcement of the winners was not enough to stop some kids from running around, requiring parental intervention to calm them down enough to see if they won.

Entries were put into four different age categories, zero to two years old, three to five years old, six to nine years old and older than ten. They were then judged on Scariest, Funniest and Most Original.

The winning entries were:

0-2 years old: Scariest – Brylee Nen, age 1; Funniest – Wyatt Bragg, age 2; Most Original – Lily Jasper, age 2.

3-5 years old: Scariest – Luca Digiando, age 3; Funniest – Kacey Kellberg, age 4; Most Original – Loretta Bragg, age 4.

6-9 years old: Scariest – Eddie Betts, age 6; Funniest – Darby Haskins, age 8; Most Original – Seth Richards, age 9.

10 and above: Scariest – Bailey Milender, age 10; Funniest – Emily Larson, age 11; Most Original – Zoe Kelsey, age 10.

The entries were judged by Nancy Garcia and Rick Lewis.

Winning entries were awarded a coupon for a free ice cream. Nobody left empty handed, though, and everyone was given a toy drawn from a box which ranged from bubbles to Frisbees.

According to Chaberek, all of the pumpkins and decorating supplies were donated by the Friends of the Library. There was no entry fee or fundraising being done and the contest was simply a way for kids to be creative and have fun in anticipation of Halloween.

After judging, the kids were allowed to keep their entries if they wanted them.