Are you wondering what in the world is KDPGA?!!! Well, it stands for the Kelly Drive Pumpkin Growers Association of Golden Valley, Minnesota. Far from a commercial pumpkin growers association, it’s just a group of neighbors who decided to grow giant pumpkins for fun and yesterday was their annual weigh-in party. I would venture to guess it’s one of the best neighborhood parties to be found anywhere!
We went yesterday with our daughter’s family, and our grandkids had a ball. As you can probably guess by the lineup of strollers, this is truly a family party for people of all ages. Our son-in-law commented that neighborhood events like this is one of the reasons they love living in Golden Valley…it has a strong sense of community.
My understanding is that the whole pumpkin thing started over 12 years ago when three neighbors started talking at a Christmas party. They thought there must be something they could do together to promote friendships and community. How they came up with the idea of growing giant pumpkins I don’t know, but that is what they did and it’s a wonderful success story for not only growing giant pumpkins, but more importantly…growing great community.
This year they celebrated their 12th annual weigh-in party, complete with pony rides, kid games, fire trucks, a parade, food served from neighbor’s garages, guessing games, a DJ and the weigh-in for the biggest pumpkin of the season. They have their growing collection of t-shirts they create each year on display along with their giant pumpkins and sunflowers. It’s just an ordinary suburban neighborhood creating extraordinary community!
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