A lot of families have fall traditions, but Danise Alano-Martin's is probably different than yours.
Alano-Martin and her family launch pumpkins. And they do it very well.
"Tetanus Express is our team name. Our rehabbed used parts are very, very rusty. We used the name because we are shooting the pumpkins out of our rust bucket," Alano-Martin says.
At last year's annual Bloomington Pumpkin Launch they tied for a record pumpkin launch. Their pumpkin flew for 739 feet – that's the equivalent of more than two football fields.
"We're pretty consistently hitting about 700 feet," Alano-Martin says.
She says the best pumpkins to launch are between five and eight pounds.
Team Tetanus Express spends three to four hours practicing on the weekend.
They built their trebuchet about five years ago out of scrap metal.
"It's a lot of fun for us to get together as a family and spend time doing something really kind of stupid," Alano-Martin says.
More than a dozen teams are expected to participate in this weekend's pumpkin launch competition. The judges use GPS to measure the distance each pumpkin travels. The winner gets bragging rights and a trophy.