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The Mast General Store and Western Youth Network Jointly Host the 7th Annual Punkin Party in Valle Crucis

By Rebecca Mullins

Oct. 25, 2013. On Saturday, Oct. 26, the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis and Western Youth Network jointly host the 7th annual Punkin Party of Valle Crucis in celebration of the changing colors, ripening pumpkins and cooling weather of the fall season.

This party will feature family friendly activities like pumpkin carving, pumpkin decorating and good natured games. Hot beverages and baked good will be available for purchase, and on that chilly fall morning, some hot apple cider or hot cocoa is a sure-fire way to warm you up all the way from your head to your toes. And to finish it off, Bob the singing Pilot will be performing classic songs we all know and love.

The Punkin Party will be hosted at the Mast General Store Annex located at 2918 Broadstone Rd, Banner Elk. The party runs from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. and is an outdoor activity, so be sure to bundle up in layers when you come out for this day of fun. 

The party is free to attend, but tickets for games, as well as food and beverages will cost a small yet reasonable amount.

pumpkinFestival“It’s very inexpensive,” commented Sheri Mortz, the Community Relations Manager of the Mast General Store. “It doesn’t cut anybody out of the fun and helps rasie money for the Western Youth Network.”

The Punkin Party will have fun for the whole family with games such as go fish, pumpkin sack races, hoopla, apple bobbing, a potato gun shooting gallery, and to finish it off, pumpkin bowling with real pumpkins. Here’s your chance to play with your food, well, pumpkins that is.

And for those of you ready to get into the Halloween spirit, come and carve up a whole pumpkin with your family and friends to show off your creative and spooky side. Though for those who prefer not to get their hands dirty, some pre-gutted, ready-to-be-carved pumpkins will be available as well. Smaller pumpkins for decorating will be there for children a little too young for the cutlery yet still eager for a piece of the action. Everyone from the youngest to the oldest, will be able to go home with a pumpkin they can call their own.

“Theres no high-tech stuff, its just good-old fashioned fun,” said Moretz.

And after all that work gaming and carving, stop by and purchase some baked goods for your rumbling tummys. There will be pumpkin flavored brownies, breads and fudge as well as non-pumpkin related foods such as cupcakes, cookies, rice crispy treats and popcorn. Then grab some hot apple cider or hot cocoa to warm up the depths of your stomach and the cockles of your heart.

All money raised from the Punkin Party goes to the Western Youth Network in support of their Youth Mentor Program. This nonprofit group serves to help give children that little extra push of encouragement throughout Watuaga, Ashe and Avery county.

Come on out and enjoy the fun at this Saturday’s great Punkin Party, where the cider will be hot, the pumpkins primed for carving and the games ready for some young hands to give them a shot for a prize.

“We just want to provide a good time for families in the High Country, said Jennifer Warren, executive director of the Western Youth Network.

Its just a really great old-timey, family-friendly fall festival.”