Pumpkins soar over Mundelein

Pumpkins flew high in the air before splattering on the ground to the thrill of the crowd Sunday during the annual Mundelein Pumpkin Drop at Keith Mione Community Park.

The event also featured a pumpkin roll for children who sent their pumpkins careening down a hill, and a pumpkin smash that involved baseball bats.

"The main attraction obviously is our trebuchet up there from the high school," said Mike Gerton, aquatics supervisor at the Mundelein Park and Recreation District. "It's a lot of fun to watch."

Almost 150 people watched in awe as "Big Red," the trebuchet designed and built by Mundelein High School physics students, launched more than 15 pumpkins from the top of the sled hill at the park.

"This is a trebuchet based off a medieval siege weapon. It was constructed by the physics teachers and some physics students about seven years ago," Mundelein High physics teacher Matt Farmer explained before carefully loading pumpkins into the sling.

The fist pumpkins sent flying were large and heavy, so they didn't travel very far. One almost came straight back down on top of the trebuchet. Later, smaller pumpkins flew great distances to the delight of the audience.

All of the pumpkins that were smashed were collected and sent to the Prairie Crossing farm in Grayslake for composting.