Using her fingers, criminal justice major Rachel Kerber performs her finishing stokes of green paint on a pumpkin covered with candy held by toothpicks.
“It only took me about 15 minutes,” she said while admiring the creation she called a “Martian.” Kerber’s “Martian” represented one of the 75 pumpkins decorated by Cal State Long Beach students during Criminal Justice Student Association’s (CJSA) annual Pumpkin Festival.
Corn stalk and bales of hay marked the spot for the CJSA Pumpkin Festival that took place Thursday near the Psychology Building quad. This was a free event where students received a pumpkin, which they were able to paint and decorate for the opportunity to win up to a $75 cash prize. Scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., when judges planned to pick three winners out of the 75 painted pumpkins, executive council member Esmeralda Laveaga said. The prices included $75 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place winners.
“I think this is ‘super cool’ for the campus,” communication major Jenny Frebele said. “I like the candy, and I like it that we get to keep the pumpkins.”
The festival is one of the ways CJSA tries to encourage the entire campus community to be involved in an activity, CJSA adviser Harv Morley said while he encouraged student passers by to join in the activity.
Students decorated pumpkins to look like vampires, martians and used scary eyeballs for effect. Others took it to another level by having their pumpkins represent the Green Party and cultural Hyphy movement.
“I wanted to make this event a multicultural event and show the diversity in the university,” said senior criminal justice major James Mcfarlin. “Not only [does] my pumpkin represent ethnicity but also musical subculture.”
CJSA is a community service organization made up of 125 members and was voted organization of the year four out of the 9 years of its service, Morley said. The annual event has been offered by CJSA for seven consecutive years and they “usually get a good turnout.”
