Bradley Brenner, 6, of Vernon Hills, walks back up the hill after successfully rolling his pumpkin downhill into a bucket, which earned him a Subway gift card during Vernon Hills Park District's annual pumpkin launch Saturday at the Sled Hill at Century Park.
MADHU KRISHNAMURTHY/mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com
Rolling. Launching. Smashing.
Flinging pumpkins several hundred feet into the air and watching them come crashing down was the perfect fall activity for several Vernon Hills area families who grabbed their gourds and headed to the Sled Hill at Century Park Saturday.
Children of all sizes rolled pumpkins they barely could carry from the top of the hill to see who could get them into buckets at the bottom. Those who hit the mark earned prizes.
Bradley Brenner, 6, of Vernon Hills, said he thought he would win "because I aimed it."
He won twice in his first time entering the pumpkin rolling contest, earning Subway gift cards.
"It's just a great, fun family event," said his father Brian Brenner.
Roughly 50 people came to observe and participate in the annual event hosted by the Vernon Hills Park District.
Rolling pumpkins downhill is just an added bonus. The main event is the pumpkin launch.
"This is our sixth year," said Marty Walsh, the park district's special events supervisor. "We launch about 50 pumpkins over three hours. It's becoming an extremely popular event. We sold out all the launch times by mid-September this year."
Pumpkins were catapulted into the air using a trebuchet - the kind typically used during the Middle Ages - built by Jason Rush, a Vernon Hills High School physics teacher.
"We built this in 2011," said Rush, adding that he got the idea from Mundelein High School, which has a similar device. "Students helped me set it up."
Organizers said the farthest distance traveled by any launched pumpkin was about 110 yards.
The crowd cheered as each gourd came crashing down smashing and scattering into hundreds of pieces all over the ground. Children then raced downhill to help clean up the field, earning a kid's meal from the Corner Bakery for their efforts.
Rush said he built the device for the joy of physics. He also uses it to teach students about projectile motion.
"Physics is the best subject," he added. "We get to have a lot of physical fun."
Vernon Hills High School physics teacher Jason Rush loads up a pumpkin for launching using a trebuchet - a type of catapult - he built. Roughly 50 people participated in the Vernon Hills Park District's annual pumpkin launch Saturday at the Sled Hill at Century Park.
MADHU KRISHNAMURTHY/mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com
Wen Kuang of Vernon Hills and his children, Maggie, 8, and Emmanuel, 6, pull to release their pumpkin during the Vernon Hills Park District's annual pumpkin launch Saturday at the Sled Hill at Century Park.
MADHU KRISHNAMURTHY/mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com
Wen Kuang of Vernon Hills and his children, Maggie, 8, and Emmanuel, 6, pull to release their pumpkin during the Vernon Hills Park District's annual pumpkin launch Saturday at the Sled Hill at Century Park.
MADHU KRISHNAMURTHY/mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com
Presley Schenk, 5, of Vernon Hills, and her father, Michael Schenk, tug at the rope to release their pumpkin using a type of catapult during the Vernon Hills Park District's annual pumpkin launch Saturday at the Sled Hill at Century Park.
MADHU KRISHNAMURTHY/mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com
Roughly 50 pumpkins were catapulted hundreds of feet into the air and came crashing down at the Vernon Hills Park District's annual pumpkin launch Saturday at the Sled Hill at Century Park.
MADHU KRISHNAMURTHY/mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com
Roughly 50 people participated in the Vernon Hills Park District's annual pumpkin launch Saturday at the Sled Hill at Century Park. In between launches, children got to roll pumpkins down the hill and those that made it into buckets earned prizes.
MADHU KRISHNAMURTHY/mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com
Children race to collect their pumpkins, which they rolled downhill attempting to get them into buckets to win prizes. It was a fun distraction during the Vernon Hills Park District's annual pumpkin launch Saturday at the Sled Hill at Century Park.
MADHU KRISHNAMURTHY/mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com
Bradley Brenner, 6, of Vernon Hills, and his sister, Brooke, 5, walk back up the hill after he successfully rolled his pumpkin downhill into a bucket, earning him a Subway gift card during Vernon Hills Park District's annual pumpkin launch Saturday at the Sled Hill at Century Park.
MADHU KRISHNAMURTHY/mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com