Pumpkin Town is feature of annual Colorfest celebration

ANNA, Ill. -- Work is almost completed on "Pumpkin Town USA" for this weekend's annual Union County Colorfest celebration.

Pumpkin Town is a community of pumpkin people set up annually at the Clyde L. Choate Mental Health and Development Center in Anna as part of the celebration.

The celebration begins today with judging of Pumpkin Town scenes.

"We give each participating team 10 pumpkins and 15 bales of hay," said Carol Altridge of the center's rehabilitation department. "The teams, comprised of patients and staff members, go from there with their imagination."

With this year's theme -- Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes -- expect some colorful displays, said Altridge.

The pumpkins are painted, molded or carved to resemble faces, animals and characters portrayed in a scene. Straw is used to stuff and form figures and build structures.

Pumpkin Town is just part of the Colorfest celebration.

Communities in the county have special events -- a bicycle biathlon and special comedy show at Anna; tractor pulls, from kids to full-size antique tractor pulls at Dongola; waterfowl, turkey, owl, crow and coon calling contests at Trail of Tears State Forest near Jonesboro.

Colorfest also features home tours, arts and crafts shows, musical entertainment, food and other events at Alto Pass, Anna, Cobden, Jonesboro, Wolf Lake, Lick Creek and at the Bald Knob Mountain Cross. Information on events may be obtained at visitor booths in each community.

Wine festivals

Visitors can also attend the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail where five wineries -- Alto Vineyards of Alto Pass; Owl Creek Vineyard and Winghill Vineyard of Cobden; Pomona Winery and Von Jakob Vineyard, both near Pomona -- have planned special events for Saturday and Sunday.

Altridge says the Choate Center's normally quiet and serene campus is turned into center stage for Pumpkin Town. More than 30,000 vehicles have passed by the scenes over the past two years.

House tour

The annual house tour will be held Saturday and Sunday. This year's tour is based mainly in Anna, with three homes and one historical church within the city limits, and a fourth home, in a rural area with an Anna address.

The homes:

Keller Home, l102 Lincoln St.: The owners of this home have rescued one of the early great brick homes of the county. Larry and Melody Keller have restored this 1879, two-story house, to return it to its elegant origin. House was originally home of Matilda and William Moreland.

The Kelley Home, 504 S. Main: Steve and Rita Kelley, purchased the home in 1995. Constructed in 1900, this two-store house served as an apartment building 10 years.

The Nigro Home, 7920 Illinois 146E: A portion of this home is a reconstructed log cabin built in 1856 for the Tom Hughes family. The cabin was located on nearby "Hughes Hill" and was moved to the present site in 1993. Tom Hughes, the builder of the cabin, is an ancestor of one of the present owners of this home.

Trammel Home, 615 S. Main: Bruce and Becky Trammel own this building. Records show the house, which sits on a double stone foundation, was built around 1896. It is thought that part of the house was rebuilt after a small fire in the 1930s, but some oak floors and light fixtures are original, along with the iron fence in front of the property.

St. Anne's Church, 507 S. Main: The cornerstone for this native fieldstone church building was laid in 1886. The original furniture was all handmade by the parishioners. The original building had a bell tower that had to be taken down in the early 1900s. Efforts are being made to preserve the building for special events.