St. Charles teen carves out another Halloween victory

Sara Fessler, 15, of St. Charles loves Halloween. In fact, the only thing that would make the holiday better than Christmas, would be if there were presents, she said.

For the past five years, Sara and her family have won the "Family Fun" category in the St. Charles Park District's annual Gallery of Ghoulish Homes Tour. Though it's a family affair, Sara is the mastermind behind every design. About 70 pumpkins, all carved by Sara, decorate the front yard of the home at 175 Renaux Blvd., along with an 18-foot corn stalk teepee, several varieties and colors of pumpkins and other decorations.

Sara grows all the pumpkins at another location.

"I've always loved pumpkins and carving them," she says.

In the two weeks the display has been up she has had to replace about 20 pumpkins due to weather or vandals, and will have another 20 freshly carved for visitors Friday. When asked if her hands get tired during pumpkin carving marathons, she said with a bit of a laugh, "I'm adjusted to it." One carving session lasted six hours, another lasted three hours. Her father, Jeff, cleans out the pumpkins, and he said he can do 23 in 30 minutes.

Jeff estimated about 1,000 people came through on the night of the judging Oct. 18 and about 300 more the following day. The family offered face-painting and pumpkin carving for the kids plus hayrides.

He said what he likes about the event is that they are giving back to the community, which is more important than winning.