Video: Pumpkins fly in sky over Mundelein

Children looked up in glee as pumpkins were flung high in the air by a giant red trebuchet, flying far down the Mundelein sled hill and splattering across the field to the cheers of the crowd.

The Mundelein Park District held its eighth annual Pumpkin Drop on Sunday at the Keith Mione Community Park and sled hill.

“The big focus is the pumpkin launch with the trebuchet. We are going to launch anywhere from 10 to 20 pumpkins. Some of them can go pretty far,” said Mike Gerton, the event coordinator for the Mundelein Parks and Recreation District. “I am really excited to see the pumpkins fly.”

The National Recreation & Park Association award-winning event also featured pumpkin rolling races, children smashing pumpkins with baseball bats, and ended with participants assisting in the clean up with the “fill-the-cans-with-pumpkins” race. The pumpkins will be recycled as compost.

But the highlight was the flying pumpkins, as about 150 people watched 20 lucky preregistered winners have their pumpkins launched by “Big Red.” The trebuchet was designed and built by Mundelein High School teachers and students. A special prize was given to the winner of the pumpkin launched the farthest.

“It's awesome and really cool. I can't believe it,” said Joseph Rudolph, 11, of Libertyville after watching his pumpkin splatter at the bottom of the hill. “The best part is that we get to kill dead pumpkins.”