C'mon, Patch Readers: Show Us Your Pumpkins!

Show us your pumpkin and maybe we'll show you the money.

Here's the deal: We want to see your pumpkins (and get your mind out of the gutter right now -- this is a family-friendly newspaper!). Halloween's right around the corner so what better way to enjoy the holiday than to show off your pumpkin carving or painting on Bolingbrook Patch. Submit your photos by clicking on the "Submit photos" button right above the photo of this article or email us a photo of your masterpiece and we'll enter it into a random drawing for a $25 gift card to a Bolingbrook restaurant of your the winner's choice. Ah, but there's a catch: Once your photo gets posted, I want you to leave a comment or message at the bottom of the story. Identify your pumpkin by the number I give it in the caption. Your comment/message can…

•  22 Comments
• Photos (17)

Brian Feldt

10:43 am on Thursday, November 3, 2011

No. 9 -- the Raider Pride pumpkin -- won. The winner has been notified. Thanks for participating!   more ›

Be Fit Bolingbrook

Be Fit: Seven Great Exercises You Can Do With a Pumpkin

In light of Halloween, this week's Be Fit column offers seven easy and fun exercises you can do with just a pumpkin.

Bolingbrook Patch caught up with our John Chase, our resident health and fitness columnist, at the Bolingbrook Area Chamber of Commerce's Business Expo at the Bolingbrook Golf Club on Thursday. John was kind enough to take time out of his busy expo-ing schedule to show and help us shoot the latest video for Be Fit and it has a season flair to it. It's seven great exercises you can do with a pumpkin.  That's right. A pumpkin. They're not just for carving, baking or decor anymore.  Follow these easy steps and you'll be on your way to becoming a better, healthier you in no time. That is, until we all blow it all during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.

• Videos (1)

Bolingbrook is Home of the Personalized Pumpkin

Local pumpkin-carving expert Sharri Grise shows us how to cut the perfect gourd.

Sharri Grise has probably carved more pumpkins this Halloween season than you have in your lifetime. The pumpkin-carving extraordinaire has probably even out-carved an entire family this season. Grise is a floral design specialist at the Michaels in Bolingbrook. But come fall, she's the pumpkin lady. Grise has been carving the synthetic craft-pumpkins for five years for the popular craft store. Last year, the corporate office picked up on the gig and added a machine-based pumpkin carving program of their own. Michaels now operates the program out of the Chicago and Dallas markets, but next year hopes to expand to a nationwide audience, Grise said. But it all started in Bolingbrook—with Grise's vision. "We like to call it the birthplace of …

• Photos (8)
• Videos (1)