[ back ]
Pumpkin roll not for spectators
(by Barbara Christian - November 12, 2008)
Pumpkin roll not for spectators
Let's put the pumpkin roll in the same category as the wilderness. No one needs to see it to appreciate it. It's just nice to know that it's there.
Over the years, that's changed to a point where it has become a spectator sport, which is how a Solon man was badly hurt this year, when he and a young pumpkin sledder unintentionally met. The man, an onlooker, was knocked unconscious and at this writing remained hospitalized.
We always knew that the pumpkin roll was an accident waiting to happen. But no one predicted that it would be an adult bystander who would be the one life-flighted to the hospital. As a result, some people want the tradition to end, for police to step up and get tough.
Dear members of the Chagrin Falls High School 2009 and 2010. Here is some advice on how to save it:
-- Do not invite your parents or other non-classmates. If you are over 18 years old, resist the temptation to show up. This means no TV cameras. The pumpkin roll was not meant to be a spectator sport.
-- Keep the date and time of the roll a secret until the last possible minute. Once it begins and the police show up, do not throw things or swear at them. This is not brave or cool. It's disrespectful.
-- As if we had to tell you, it's a bad idea to bring anything alcoholic to the roll. It's illegal, just like stealing pumpkins. While stealing pumpkins is part of the tradition, be prepared to do the time if you do the crime. In other words, community service. In some towns, you will have to wear an orange vest, so everyone knows that you are not volunteering.
-- It would be worth your while to choose a couple of class leaders to serve as emissaries to certain alumni rollers who know how to run a safe and sane, albeit illegal, roll. That wisdom has been lost to the years.
CLASS ACT
-- We would be remiss if we did not mention what a classy group of volunteers assembled by Sally Florkiewicz to run the Chagrin Falls Republican headquarters. Not long after Barack Obama's election, the GOP vols cleaned out their digs in the former Huntington Bank Building. They did leave something. A sign taped to the window facing Washington Street read, "Congrats pres-elect Obama." Maybe we can all get along after all.
DID YOU NOTICE?
-- Hell froze Nov. 4, the day that Barack Obama was elected president and even Chagrin Falls Village gave him the edge over Republican John McCain, 1,241-1,217. Of the Cuyahoga County communities in the Chagrin Valley, only Chagrin Falls Township, Hunting Valley and Gates Mills chose Sen. McCain. Woodmere gave Sen. Obama 80 percent.
WHO KNEW?
-- In a mostly Republican town like Chagrin Falls, it's impossible to get news of notable Democrats with local connections. So maybe that's why we did not know that the former Amy Rule, daughter of Adrian and Mary Rule and sister of Hilary Rule, all of Chagrin Falls, is married to Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel, soon-to-be Barack Obama's chief of staff. Neither Amy nor her family wanted to comment, but we thought it newsworthy. Amy grew up here and graduated from Laurel School in 1975. Now you know.
[ back ]
