Families have a cracking time at Conant High School's pumpkin smash

Blustery winds and sideways rain couldn't keep the smile from 16-year-old Simran Aulakh's face as she pummeled a large pumpkin with a wooden baseball bat Saturday during the first pumpkin smash at Conant High School.

The event sponsored by the Hoffman Estates' school environmental Green Cougars Club offered a fun outlet for children of all ages, including a few parents.

Balmy 59 degree temperature agitated by 20 to 30 mph southwest winds gusting up to 60 mph mixed with a smattering of rain did not deter the seemingly constant stream of cars and kids dropping of their aging Halloween gourds.

The club, which has about 20 student members, recruited the high school's carpentry class to create bull's-eye targets, which hung at the back of a 20-yard-long compost container at which people could launch their pumpkins.

The smash coincided with Conant's annual Fall Fest, which included student musical performances and cupcake sales benefiting the Schaumburg Township Food Bank.