Pumpkin Drop returns, smashing success

BONNERS FERRY — The Wicked Witch of the East had a house dropped on her, but this Halloween in Bonners Ferry another villain had a pumpkin dropped on him, as the annual Pumpkin Drop returned from a multi-year hiatus.

This Halloween, a 400-pound pumpkin was lifted 50 feet in the air and dropped on esteemed guest, Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, or at least a cardboard cut out of the him was placed in the smash zone. 

About 60 people turned out for the pumpkin smash, not knowing who the pumpkin would be dropped on. 

Cal Russell, owner of Boundary Tractor in Bonners Ferry where the event took place, brought out what appeared to be a cardboard podium with the Russian flag in the front. The pumpkin was painted blue and yellow, like the Ukraine flag, and was wrapped with rope and attached to a crane and ready to be raised.

 When it was revealed Putin received the honor, a chuckle went through the crowd, anticipating the monstrous drop. 

The 400-pound Ukraine-flag-painted pumpkin was raised approximately 50 feet in the air and landed directly on target, with a booming, wet smash. Blue and yellow balloons floated in the air after the drop, as a symbol of hope for Ukraine against Russia in the current war. 

Russell started the pumpkin-smashing tradition in the 1990s. The first year, the pumpkin drop’s first victim was an old John Deere Tractor. 

“That was when John Deere was open next door,” Russell said with a laugh. 

The tradition continued. In 2008, the New York Stock Exchange received the honor, well rather, an elaborate homemade replica was smashed, which released green balloons at the end. 

Russell said this was to represent the American people’s money that floated away overnight with the crash of 2008. 

The swine flu, also known as H1N1, also received the honor of the pumpkin drop, with a paper swine being smashed. 

After the smash, attendees were allowed to gather pumpkin seeds to grow their own Atlantic Giant pumpkin variety. 

Russell hopes that more people will grow pumpkins for the annual pumpkin drop to grow the event and to ensure the biggest pumpkin gets dropped. 

Russell said Putin was chosen for the pumpkin smash and not Hamas, the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza strip currently at war with Israel, because the decision to pick Putin was prior to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. 

“Maybe next year,” he said, adding it is too far out to decide who faces the pumpkin next year. 

This year’s pumpkin was grown by Cindi Tindell with Wilder Child Sky Ranch. This was her first year growing large pumpkins. In addition to the approximately 400-pound behemoth, Tindell grew two other pumpkins that ended up being about 250 pounds each. 

She is excited to grow another pumpkin next year and also harvest some seeds from the smashed pumpkin. She noted they were much larger seeds than the ones she had originally purchased. 

The biggest pumpkin ever dropped at the event weighed in at 700 pounds and was grown by Rick Maggi. 

The pumpkin drop took a hiatus for the past five or six years, partially due to COVID-19, but also because the pumpkin grower could no longer supply a pumpkin due to family circumstances. 

To see a video of the 2023 Pumpkin Drop, visit the Bonners Ferry Herald’s social media pages.

Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, was the honored guest at this year's Pumpkin Drop. A cardboard cutout stood in Putin's place under a 400-pound pumpkin.

Pumpkin Drop smash zone after the big drop.