Community Corner
This Weekend's Pumpkins for a Cure in Geneva Includes a Run, a 'Taste,' Giveaways and Much More
A "taste" of area restaurants, celebrity chefs and judges, TV stars, merchant gifts and specials and a 10k run—all are part of a fantastic weekend lineup of fall fun that benefits research to combat childhood disease.
The 2012 Pumpkins for a Cure coming Sept. 29-30 in downtown Geneva is really a combination of events that's turned into a weekend fall festival.
"This year, the festival will feature our pumpkin patch and mum garden, but we added so much more," Mary Agnes Zellmer said on the new Zellmer Childhood Disease Foundation website.
Proceeds from the sale help efforts to combat childhood diseases. This year's event will help fund two research grants: one at the University of Chicago Kovler Diabetes Center and another to the University of Illinois Chicago Pediatric Brain Disorders Clinic.
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The event coincides with Black Hat Day in Geneva, when Geneva shops feature a special or free give away on Saturday, Sept. 29, for anyone wearing a black hat. Just look for the “Be Bewitched” sign and go inside for bewitching specials.
At 1:30 p.m. Saturday is the second annual "Harvest Taste—Sweet & Savory" event on the front lawn of The Little Traveler. This is a cooking competition among chefs form some of the area's best restaurants, judged by your votes as well as a panel of celebrity judges.
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For a $10 ticket, you get a chance to sample on vote in one of two categories: "Sweet" desserts or "Savory" entrees. This one sold out early last year, so be sure to get tickets in advance at the Zelmer Childhood Disease Foundation website or at The Little Traveler, The Spice House and The Olive Mill.
And if that's not enough, at 1 p.m. on The Little Traveler front lawn, you can take in a culinary demonstration featuring Food Network star Judson Allen.
Want to work off some of those calories before you sample the food? Then sign up for the first-ever "Trick or Trot Run." The 10k race begins at the courthouse and wind through the downtown, then onto the Fox River Trail, by the Fabyan Gardens and then returns to the streets of Geneva.
The start time is 7:30 a.m., and the registration desk opens at 6 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29. Online registration will close at 9 p.m. Sept. 27. There will be registration at packet pickup the day of the race. Every entrant will receive a race T-shirt. The cost is $45 prior to the race and $50 on the day of the race, and proceeds go to the foundation.
This year's festival will not only feature jack-o-lanterns but specialty pumpkins, such as Cinderellas, Lunch Ladies, Fairy Tales (dark green pumpkins), white pumpkins and a pumpkin that has never been grown in Illinois before: a pink pumpkin. Mums and a variety of fall plants will be on sale at the courthouse lawn, as well.
The schedule of events features Carol Steven’s Macaroni Soup, a petting zoo and pony rides, a Haunted Hay ride with stories from Donna Latham, FREE hot dogs from Fifth Third Bank, professional pumpkin carver Marc Solomon, Apple Gift Card Raffle, Kid’s Raffle, face painting and Scarecrow on Stilts.
"Being able to fund a large research project couldn’t’ happen with support from the community," said Mary Agnes Zellmer, whose family started the event as a modest pumpkin sale in 2005 at Mill Creek. "We are so grateful, and thankful for the support we’ve receive over the past eight years."
Geneva Patch is a media sponsor of Pumpkins for a Cure 2012.
SOURCE: ZCDF.org website
