Annual Pumpkinfest a great place to start on holiday gift shopping

Five-year-old Olive Cote got his face painted by North Star Grade 12 student Gracey Foster.

Visitors to Amherstburg’s North Star High School got an early jump on their Christmas shopping over the weekend.

Over 200 vendors packed the building inside and out for the annual Pumpkinfest last Saturday. 

It not only gave curious holiday buyers a chance to get that unique gift, but once again an opportunity for inspiring entrepreneurs to show what they have to offer.

One of those was North Star Grade 12 student Gracey Foster who was showcasing her facepainting skills.

“I took a business leadership class last year and I really enjoyed it. I started off selling key chains,” said Foster during a break Saturday morning.

Foster said that her favourite character to do when facepainting is a scarecrow, but those who came to her had several options including a pumpkin and sports logs.

“To start I am doing it volunteering (free of charge) and putting pictures up on my Facebook page to build my portfolio,” said Foster.

Pumpkinfest was held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and while it has been held at North Star since it opened four years ago, according to organizer Sam Thomas, the traditional event has been going on for over four decades.

“It has the reputation and the history. We were trying to figure out how long it has been going and we think it’s 45 years,” said Thomas.

The popular fall vendor extravaganza began at the former Western Secondary School, which is now closed. When it did, North Star High School decided to keep it going.

Something besides vendors this go around were students who showed off what they can do not only in the culinary department but embroidering and screen-printing.

“It’s good because a lot of people don’t know what we do,” noted Thomas.

Thomas added that since the Halloween festivities are just about over, visitors could now look forward to Christmas items being offered by the vendors, some, like Dalton Doucette put a lot of effort into making a costume for the day.

Tammy Groen of Windsor took advantage of the festive spirit and had unique looking Christmas spiders for sale along with home décor and wreaths.

“This is my third year coming here,” said Groen. “It’s very festive and there is a lot of people here.”

Several North Star students helped out during the day including greeters who welcomingly took donations at the door.

Annual Pumpkinfest a great place to start on holiday gift shopping

By Fred Groves