APPLEGATE VALLEY, Ore.– Flinging pumpkins for money doesn’t often come to mind as a go-to fundraiser. But one local organization is taking it to that level and further by partnering with Phoenix High School students.
The all-volunteer Siskiyou Upland Trails Association is focused on building and maintaining hiking trails on private and Bureau of Land Management lands between Jacksonville and Ashland. Currently, the group maintains the Jack-Ash Trail and the Sterling Mine Ditch Trail systems. The association has a combined total of 38 miles of set trail so far and are looking to add several more miles to the Jack-Ash Trail.
According to Maggie Ives, one of the organizers and volunteers, it costs about $10,000 to build one mile of trail. To raise money to pay for building those trails the association is going to let people buy pumpkins and launch them at a hay castle using a trebuchet.
Last year, Ives’ husband made one trebuchet that they used during Longsword Vineyard’s fall festival. This year, they’re getting help from Phoenix High School to build a second one.
“This year I wanted to get high school kids involved and we can fling more pumpkins if we have a second trebuchet,” said Ives. “It’s a fun event and it’s really for a good cause. We’re just building trails for the future.”
The event is scheduled to take place at Longsword Vineyard’s fall festival again this year. It’s set to happen on October 12 and 13. Prizes will be awarded to participants and Ives says Southern Oregon Subaru has sponsored the event and have donated backpacks to go to the first 50 children on both days who buy a pumpkin.
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