Blood flowed freely at this year’s Sycamore Pumpkin Festival.

The 46th annual “Pumpkin Fest” drew over 130 parade entries this year.

This was the festival’s first year to include the Heartland Blood Center blood drive. The addition collected 16 pints, or two gallons of blood from volunteers.

“The holidays are a time of critical need,” stressed Festival Vice President Traci Gardner, who was pleased with the outcome and is anxious to see even more blood donated next year.

The parade theme, “Pumpkin Dreams,” was evident in the floats, many adorned with foot upon cubic foot of what looked like pulled-out pillow stuffing, some even expelled billowy smoke from concealed vents.

DeKalb Public Library won “Best of Parade” with their Book Cart Drill Team.

The entry incorporated pajama-clad “librarians” pushing carts with plush toy animals tucked into makeshift beds. Pilots wove their carts from one side of the street to another, directed by a whistle-wielding “drill sergeant.”

Accompanying the drill team were floats adorned with castles and arks piloted by puppets. Shriners took to the streets, executing swervey figure-eights in go-karts and on mini-bikes, while bands from 18 different schools played various arrangements, including “Soul Bossa Nova” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”

The 2-hour, 40-minute long procession reached the very edge of parade reason when a police officer unleashed a German Shepherd on another officer, to resounding applause from onlookers. The K-9 quickly released the officer’s arm, which was wrapped bulkily in cloth, to a command which sounded appropriately enough, like “aus!”

The catalyst for the original Pumpkin Festival, “Mr. Pumpkin,” more publicly known as Wally Thurow, even returned from Louisiana to join the menagerie. Thurow began the event as a small display on his Sycamore lawn in 1956.

Eventually, the Sycamore Lions’ Club joined Thurow and, over the years, the festival grew into the weekend-long autumnal celebration it is today. This year included around 40 vendors selling crafts and food, a carnival, a pie-eating contest, and, of course, the parade.

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