Jack o’ Jaunt: City hosts pumpkin carving contest
October 30, 2020
The City of Palo Alto will give away $50 gift cards to the three contestants with the scariest, most creative and cutest jack o’ lanterns during its first ever “Jack o’ Jaunt” pumpkin carving competition Friday on University and California avenue.
Over 75 people of all ages are participating, and a wide array of different pumpkins will be on display according Community Services Manager Tyler Stetson. Winners of the contest will have their pumpkins displayed on all of the City’s social media accounts and will also receive a $50 gift card to a restaurant of their choice.

The contestants will be able to carve their pumpkins from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the viewing will start soon after at 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The judges, a panel of city-partner VIPs, will vote for their favorite pumpkin in the different categories.
While the event is open to the public, there will be safety precautions in place. Social distancing will be enforced, and the pumpkins will be spread out on the designated streets, according to the City of Palo Alto’s recreation division.
“We are very excited to be able to offer this event to the community in a safe and enjoyable way,” Stetson stated in an email to The Paly Voice.




![Economics teacher Eric Bloom encourages students to return their textbooks for the end of the year. According to Bloom, students might have recognized his unique fashion choices including vibrant shoes and belt buckles. Bloom said his attire choices actually linked to his lessons. "I have a lot of shoes, I have a lot of belt buckles and wear them purpose because of its educational value," Bloom said. "Especially in the earlier part of my career when we would talk about product differentiation, I had an assignment where students go home and count how many different kinds of shoes [they have]."](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-6-1-300x214.jpg)
