Liz Henderson--Program Team Assistant

This week we will be taking a look at the HoneyRock core values.  The first one we are going to focus on is Enthusiastic Involvement.  Enthusiastic Involvement is all about getting people engaged in what is going on around them.  It often starts when the leadership gets excited about something and their excitement is infectious and draws others in allowing people to engage and try something new.  This core value is extremely significant at HoneyRock because we live in a culture where students spend the majority of their time on Facebook, texting, playing video games, and watching TV.  HoneyRock gives campers and students the opportunity to get away from those things and instead do something active and sometimes a little crazy.  This core value couldn't be illustrated in a better way than by sharing the story of the Great White Pumpkin.

Our story begins with a man who had a dream: a dream to grow the biggest pumpkins in all the land.  His name is Dan Bowles, and he is the President of the Pumpkin Growers Club in Wisconsin.  He lives in Eagle River, and we at HoneyRock would like to think we had a small role in helping his dream come true, thanks to our regular donations of horse manure.  In thanks for our support of his farm, Dan gave us an 800-pound giant squash this fall.  We affectionately named it "The Great White Pumpkin."  When the squash first arrived at HoneyRock, we weren't sure what we were going to do with it, but we were confident that it would become an integral part of the Wheaton College Fall Break experience. 

Our squash-related festivities began on a Saturday night when Wheaton College Work/Play students spent the evening carving pumpkins and flavoring pumpkin seeds with everything from garlic and rosemary to chocolate.  One of the other activities that was available to them was carving the Great White Pumpkin (pictured at left).  Many students spent time that afternoon and evening carving beautiful scenes into the sides of the giant squash.  But it wasn't the end of the journey for the Great White Pumpkin, in fact, it was just the beginning.

Dan Elsen, the Residential Camp Manager and head of the Southwoods Office, came up with the brilliant plan of having a race using the Great White Pumpkin.  His excitement was contagious, and he decided that we would move the Great White Pumpkin down to the waterfront, cut it in half, hollow out the insides, and have two brave contestants paddle their halves in Long Lake.  Moving an 800-pound squash is no small feat.  After a long and tenuous journey via Skid Steer from the Chrouser Dining Hall to the Ski Dock, the squash was ready to be cut in half.

Don Kerns , HoneyRock Site and Facilities Manager, had the responsibility of cutting the Great White Pumpkin in half using a Sawzall.  It was a slow and painstaking process. 

All of seeds had to be carefully removed (pictured at left) so they could be returned to the pumpkin grower.

If you have been to HoneyRock before, you know what this shovel (pictured on right) is typically used for.  It was just the right size and shape to allow our contestants to scoop out an appropriate amount of pumpkin flesh.

Two Wheaton Seniors, Ryan Carey and Lars Skoglund, were chosen to be captains of the lake-going pumpkin vessels.  Despite the frigid temperatures, these two men were excited to race for glory.  They were certainly enthusiastically involved in the Great White Pumpkin Race.  Check out the start of the race (pictured below).  They got off to a great start, but unfortunately one of the halves of the Great White Pumpkin didn't stay afloat for long.   

 

But the fun didn't stop there.  Two of our talented kitchen staff, Dell Ledbetter (HoneyRock Food Service Manager) and Robyn McMurray (HoneyRock Cook) baked part of the squash--after it had spent some time in Long Lake!--cubed the squash, and served it for Sunday dinner!  The students reported that it was delicious.

So whether a giant squash ends up in Long Lake, on the dinner table, or at the White House (as one of Dan's pumpkins recently did) it was all a part of one man's dream coming true--and it allowed some HoneyRockers to be enthusiastically involved in something a little out of the ordinary.