Although they're not sure exactly when it started, the staff members at the Bella Vista Beauty Salon believe their annual pumpkin decorating contest is 25 years old. But it is a little different each year. This year, the pumpkins have a theme.
In the center of the shop, where everyone can see, a miniature RV park was built out of pumpkins. Each stylist at the shop decorated one pumpkin and they were arranged along with some accessories to set the scene. They call it the Bella Vista Pink Flamingo RV Park.
Why Pink Flamingo? A better question is probably "Why not?" But there is a Pink Flamingo pumpkin next to a palm tree pumpkin in the scene.
Cosmologist Linda Gibson has worked in the shop for 30 years and has become a veteran pumpkin decorator. She explained that the winner is chosen by the customers. They get one vote for each time they come in during October, but the pumpkins are not signed. Customers can't vote for their favorite stylist, only their favorite pumpkin. Votes will be counted on Oct. 31 and the winner receives the "honor" of wearing the traditional pumpkin hat all day on Nov. 1.
The hat, Gibson said, has always been in the shop. No one remembers where it came from.
The campground has winding roads made out of brown paper and each of the seven RV pumpkins has a campsite number for voting purposes. A few Adirondack chairs -- made out of Popsicle sticks -- dot the landscape.
Salon owner Betty Blakely said the chairs were made last year to go with the palm tree pumpkin. They watched and rewatched a YouTube video to learn how to make them.
One pumpkin RV is pulled by a toy tractor that plays "Old McDonald had a farm," Gibson said. The creator found the tractor in the Goodwill store.
The pumpkins are plastic, Blakely said. At first, they used to use real pumpkins but quickly realized that carved pumpkins rot quickly and unattractively. Also, they draw flies.
Customers enjoy the competition. They start asking about it in August, Blakely said.
Next year, the stylists will choose a different theme. Maybe a pumpkin spa?
General News on 10/16/2019