Students and staff of Oxnard College showed off their Halloween spirit on Halloween by participating in the 4th Annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest held at the campus bookstore.

This year, three new judges were picked and three new winners were made happy. The winners are 20-year old Cassie Bittner, for the creative pumpkin eating snake, the bookstore staff for the humorous mooning pumpkin, and the ladies from the Campus Resource Center for the big scary Frankenstein. Students and staffs who participated came up with very interesting ideas, such as Bittner, who created the snake that ate the pumpkin.

“I went out and bought the snake material, and made the snake myself,” said Bittner, “It took about an hour to finish.”

The pumpkins were judged under three categories: Scariest, Most Humorous, and Most Creative. The three judges were John Cooney, from Financial Aid department, Sandy Pack, from the President’s department, and Dennis Marletti, Student Activity Advisor. Each judge carefully observed and exchanged opinions for the most outstanding pumpkins. “It reminds me of my grandson,” replied Marletti, when asked why the mooning pumpkin was the winner.

The fun-filled event coordinated by Gina Brenner along with the bookstore staff, helped add a little buzz to the campus life at Oxnard College. The contest reeled in more participants this year than it did the previous year. An average of about 12 pumpkins entered the contest last year, and 20 decorative pumpkins competed this year. Brenner is looking forward to many more pumpkin competitions in the future.

“We’re hosting this event to create some fun and get some involvement from the staffs and students,” said Brenner. “It’s just a fun celebration.”

Some participants of the pumpkin contest spent a lot of time decorating and finding materials to create their masterpiece. Ideas were gathered weeks before judging day and some worked as a team to win the contest. The winners were notified and rewarded with bags loaded with treats and varieties of fun gifts.

The pumpkins were showcased from mid-October throughout the holiday at the bookstore. More Halloween pumpkin contests will be held again by the Oxnard College bookstore in the future.