Celebrating the Silvermont Centennial

The first 2 weekends of Pumpkin Fest have been really great, and we very much appreciate all the volunteers who have helped so far. This summarizes our remaining Pumpkin Fest volunteer needs for the next few weeks to ensure we end as well as we’ve started.

We’d especially love to have help with take/down and move out Sun Oct 30 (10-3) and Monday Oct 31 (9-3:30).  Need 10 people each day, lunch provided. 

May have need for a few more Tues/Wed am, but hoping to be done with most of it by then.  You can work 1-2 hour shifts if you can’t come all day.

For event nights Oct 21/22 and 28/29, we need additional parking help,  survey takers (helps us get grant money) and floaters (give breaks to volunteers by doing their job for a while), plus a few others  Event time is 6-9 except last day is 5-9. Volunteers come about half an hour early.

If you can help, please contact Maury Bandurraga at

pumpkinfestbrevard@gmail.com

Thank you!!!!

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Detailed volunteer needs For Event Nights:

Parking and 

Friday, Oct. 21:

BIGGEST HOLES:

• Games (1 person) supervise kids playing on tennis courts, play with kids

Other places we could use a second person:

• Survey taker 
• Greeter 
• Floater – give breaks to others

Saturday, Oct. 22:

BIGGEST HOLES:

• Survey (1 or 2 people )
• Mansion Main Floor/Door (1 person)

Other places we could use a second person:

• Greeter 
• Floater 

Friday, Oct. 28:

BIGGEST HOLES:

• Setup (3 people) start at 1 pm
  • Games (1 person)
  • Survey (1 or 2 people)

Other places we could use a second person.

• Floater

Saturday, Oct. 29 – NOTE WE START AN HOUR EARLIER THIS NIGHT

BIGGEST HOLES:

• Setup Crew (1 person)
• Survey (1 person)
• Photo Op/Dressup (1 or two people)
• Mansion Main Floor/Door (1 person)

Other places we could use a second person.

• Floater

For strike/take down/move out:

-4 or 5 more people on this Sunday Oct 23 for mini-strike. 10-noon 

-10 more people on Sunday Oct 30 for take down 10-3, lunch provided.

-10 more people on Monday day Oct 31 for move out to storage 9-3:30, lunch provided.

Thank you to the Transylvania Times for a really wonderful article and pictures about Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont in Brevard . Incredibly well done and front page!!

Don’t miss this weekend! 6-9 pm both nights. $5 admission cash, $5.25 card. $5 onsite parking, free parking nearby.

Friday night Oct 14, the music is McIntosh & The Lionhearts. Big Eyed Rabbit.

Saturday night Oct. 15, the music is Big Eyed Rabbit.

https://transylvaniatimes-cnhi.newsmemory.com?selDate=20221013&goTo=A01

We got a question today about food trucks for Pumpkin Fest.

This is what we have scheduled.

Food Trucks (plus Cup and Saucer- Drinks and Cookies Every Night)

-Oct. 14
Big Pasta, Glykalogy Donuts

-Oct. 15
Toasted Cuban and Feta Flav, Glykalogy Donuts

-Oct 21
Big Pasta, Jenny Mini Donuts

-Oct 22
Unusual Suspects Sandwiches, Big Pasta, Glykalogy Donuts

-Oct 28
Haus Heidelberg, Jenny Mini Donuts

-Oct 29
Toasted Cuban, Big Pasta, Glykalogy Donuts

I volunteer to manage our advertising and social media publicity for Pumpkin Fest each year and often field questions from the public.

Some include: do we allow dogs? Yes, on leash if well behaved since we have lots of young kids and seniors, but not in the mansion or museum.

Another is: is the trail handicap accessible? The gravel trail is easy for strollers but needs a strong person to push a wheelchair on some hills since it does not meet ADA standards. A mechanized wheelchair with wider tires made it through Friday night with assistance from a strong volunteer trail monitor (thank you Ken Klink!)

But the latest is: Why do we charge for Pumpkin Fest?

Here is the answer I provided on Facebook in reply:

The reason we charge $5 admission (2 and up) and $5 for onsite parking is that it is a yearly fundraiser for Silvermont park and mansion. It takes thousands of volunteer man-hours every year to repair the displays, build new displays, and move-in and set up and take down and move out the displays.

None of the volunteers are paid and many of the core volunteers spend hundreds of dollars out of their own pocket to improve the displays, and for the activity supplies, lunches, snacks and water to thank volunteers. They also spend time and gas money distributing publicity materials such as posters and rack cards. Our only reward is raising money to help maintain and improve Silvermont Park historic mansion.

The lead group is called Friends of Silvermont (FOS). It was formed 50 years ago because the county hadn’t maintained the historic mansion it was bequeathed and wanted to tear it down. Since then, FOS has raised and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars fixing up the mansion and making improvements in the park, including helping with the new playground, taking down dead trees, paying an arborist to treat other trees to maintain their health, and having monthly work parties to plant flowers, pull weeds, remove deadfall, spread mulch and remove invasive growth.

I hope this explains why we charge. Please let me know if you have any other questions. We’d love for you to join FOS and help us with our mission of maintaining and improving Silvermont Park and historic mansion.

Just fyi, the admission and parking charge has NOT changed since we started the event 8 years ago. We hope generous people who can afford it will give us donations to help offset the low admission cost so that we can help keep it affordable for families and lower income folks. I can’t think of anything else that is still the same price as 8 years ago, while we have added more lights, exhibits, music, food trucks, tours of museum and house each year. Every other fall/Halloween event we know of charges much, much more.

We always need more volunteers, and would love for you to join us. Please contact pumpkinfestbrevard@gmail.com if you can help us by volunteering or want to get on the mailing list to support Friends of Silvermont.

Do you have any other questions??? If we raise the admission or parking price in future years, what do you think is reasonable?

More pictures from Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont in Brevard last night including Syd in an inner tube looking for her family in “Under the Sea”, looking in the mine area, and the whole family together at the end of the trail.

Jeanne Hunter designed the exhibit and Chet Wright wrote the wonderful poem.  Other Pumpkinteers (Joe Dapkins, Erik Rasmussen, Pinkie Byrd, Jenny Tierney, Kristen Alpert and more) helped cut out, sand, paint, stage and light the displays. 

There is a Syd display and poem at each major lighted pumpkin display.  This is our new display this year.   Every year Joe Dapkins add something new and tweak existing exhibits to keep it fresh.

Our opening weekend was fantastic, with great weather, lots of energetic volunteers, wonderful music from Nikki Talley and Jason Sharp, scads of kids and families walking the trail and enjoying the activities, and many enjoying the Silvermont mansion and museum.

The dedicated Pumpkin Fest core team was joined by many dedicated community volunteers, including Brevard and Rosman High School students. They provided trail actors who interacted with the audience and provided lots of fun.

The Syd the White Squirrel story was well received, and there were lots of positive comments and smiles from those leaving.

Please join us on the remaining 3 Friday and Saturday nights in October! 6-9 except Oct.29 which is 5-9. $5 cash admission for 2 and up, $5.25 for card. On-site parking $5. Free parking nearby at church lots and streets.

The Pumpkinteers (aka Friends of Silvermont) have been busy on-site at Silvermont for the last 2 weeks setting up for Pumpkin Fest. They are excited to welcome you Friday October 7 for our opening night, starting at 6 pm through 9 pm. Please join us Saturday October 8 for the second night, if you can’t make Friday. Pumpkin Fest will also be open the remaining Friday and Saturday nights in October, but the weather looks really good this weekend, and usually the opening weekend has smaller crowds, so it is a good time to come.

Here is the poster you may have seen around town, advertising the event. We hope you will support Silvermont Park and historic mansion by coming out to enjoy the beautiful music, lighted pumpkin trail, tours of the mansion and second floor museum, food trucks and coffee house treats and all the kids activities.

This is the 7th year of Pumpkin Fest and the price is still a low $5 per person 2 years or older (cash), and $5.25 for credit/debit. On-site parking is $5/car, but free parking is close by at church and Comporium lots just a block or two away.

We have kept the cost low to help families be able to attend, but donations to help Friends of Silvermont are always welcome, to support the mission of improving and maintaining Silvermont Park and historic mansion. Donation boxes will be located at the cashier tables and in the mansion.

We are very excited to have Nikki Talley and Jason Sharp provide their special music both October 7 and 8.

Food options include Cup and Saucer both nights and:

Friday: Toasted Cuban and Jenny Mini Donuts

Saturday: Feta Flav, Big Pasta Cup and Glykalogy Donuts.

Especially cool is that students from the BHS Interact Club, BHS Drama and RHS National Honor Society are helping as trail actors, face painters, and in other volunteer roles, as they did last year. We are very grateful for their energy and assistance. We also have some community members dressing up in White Squirrel costumes and other non-scary costumes and roaming the trails. If you’d like to volunteer, we can always use more help, just contact pumpkinfestbrevard@gmail.com or message us on Facebook at the Silvermont Park FB page.

We do have trail lights, but a flashlight is not a bad thing to have, and we ask that visitors DO NOT go into the lighted exhibits as we have a lot of wires and cords and don’t want people to trip or damage the exhibits. We have created some photo op areas that will help folks take good photos in a safe way.

See you at PUMPKIN FEST!!!! Please spread the word and tell your friends. It’s a great family or date night activity, fun for all ages.

Pumpkin Fest is supported by the Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority

Dates and Times:  Fri and Sat Oct 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, and 28 from 6-9 pm and Sat. Oct. 29 from 5-9 pm (following Halloweenfest in downtown Brevard).

Family friendly and fantastic artistic fun or great date night with beautiful lighted carved pumpkin displays on a short walking trail, talented local musicians, food trucks and coffee house, games, storytelling, face painting, white squirrel scavenger hunt, and the Silvermont historic mansion open for tours.  The new 2021 “White Squirrel Circus” display returns, as well as 18 other lighted pumpkin displays such as Butterfly Garden, Pirates Cove, Under the Sea, Witches Garden, Ghost Circle, Totem Garden, and more.  A new 2022 exhibit has been developed by Friends of Silvermont’s Pumpkinteers that ties throughout many of the other exhibits- Syd, The Lost Little White Squirrel, searches for her family.  Several photo-op sites will also be set up throughout the Pumpkin Fest Displays.

Fine gravel trail works well for strollers but does not meet ADA standards for wheelchairs. Pumpkin Fest is a Fundraiser for Friends of Silvermont to help maintain and improve the Silvermont Park and historic mansion.   

Location- Silvermont Park 364 E. Main St. Brevard, NC 28712.    Admission $5 per person (2 and over) cash or check with ID.    Cost to use credit/debit is $5.25 per person. 

Onsite parking cost $5 cash per car.     Free parking is available offsite on nearby streets and at church and Comporium parking lots one or two blocks away.   Handicap sticker- free parking onsite.

Music and Food Schedule:

Website:     https://silvermont.org/     Facebook:  SilvermontPark:    https://www.facebook.com/silvermontpark/    For questions or to volunteer, contact Maury Bandurraga at 828-862-5984 or Pumpkinfestbrevard@gmail.com

We especially need able bodied folks to help with parking each event night, and folks to help with tear down and move-out October 30 and 31 and November 1-3. Lunch provided on move-out days.

Press release:  October 3, 2022                  

Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont in Brevard is Supported by a Grant from Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority

Here are pictures from last Friday July 8, with Friends of Silvermont Pumpkin Fest volunteers repairing pumpkins to get ready for 2022 Pumpkin Fest at Silvermont in Brevard.   

Pumpkin Fest is a community event and fundraiser for Friends of Silvermont to improve and maintain Silvermont Park and the historic mansion.   2022 will be our 7th year!

If you are interested in volunteering this year to help us get ready, or working during the event (last 4 weekends of October), please email Maury at pumpkinfestbrevard@gmail.com and let us know how you want to help.

During the summer, we repair and paint displays and build new displays;  carpentry and painting skills are needed.   

Saturday, September 24 is move-in and setup day.   Further setup takes place from Sept 25- opening day October 7.

During the event, we have both sitting and walking/standing roles, including several booths, parking, host at the historic house, white squirrel costume and greeter, storytelling, and more.  

If you helped last year, you will be contacted in Aug – Sept to find out if you are interested and available to help this year.   Thank you for your interest in helping.