The Pelham Children’s Center (PCC) hosted its annual Pumpkin Festival on the lawn of the town gazebo last Saturday. The annual event featured fun Halloween activities for kids, including bouncy castles, face paint, carnival games, and a pumpkin patch. In addition to several Halloween activities, the festival was coupled with a book sale in the town house, featuring books donated by Pelham residents.

“The Pelham Children’s Center has been here for over 50 years,” said Stephen Madey, director of the Pelham Children’s Center. “We are the only not for-profit childcare center in town. An event like this helps raise money for a lot of the extra activities for the kids, like music, art, and trips. For example, we just got to take a trip to go apple picking,”

The festival lasted from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the kids’ fun run beginning at 9:30. Not only did this event provide funding to support activities for kids in the future, but it was a fun day for families to hang out and enjoy Halloween festivities.

“This is an opportunity to help support our programs while providing activities and entertainment for the community,” PCC board member and event volunteer Dan Deal shared.

Local businesses also pitched in to support the Children’s Center. Pelham Orthodontist Dr. Anne Kossowan and her husband had a table at the event, offering a fun Halloween experience: vampire teeth custom fit to participants’ mouths. Pelham residents who stopped by Dr. Kossowan’s office at 880 Fifth Avenue received a free mold made of their mouth, which the team used to create a set of vampire fangs that were shaped perfectly for their teeth. Dr. Kossowan has been a longtime friend of the PCC, and was excited to both support their event and share the importance of early orthodontic check-ups.

The Pumpkin Festival is built off of collaboration from the community, and it’s a big deal for Pelham Children. “We do this because we’re volunteers and we want to see a successful event and the kids having fun” emphasized Deal.