At 7:15 a.m. Saturday, Abby Gitlitz and volunteers for the sixteenth Great Glass Pumpkin Patch will unload 1,625 hand-blown pumpkins from a 20-foot box truck onto the courthouse lawn in Bloomington.
The colorful display of fragile pumpkins will mark the return of the annual event hosted by the Bloomington Creative Glass Center. Gitlitz, executive director of the center, said the event is its largest fundraiser, raising over $40,000.
"Part of the way this works is that all the pumpkins are made by apprentices," Gitlitz said. "So these are people who are getting to learn how to blow glass for free, in exchange for making the pumpkins."
The event goes from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or until the pumpkins sell out. The event will happen regardless of weather.
Gitlitz began creating glass pumpkins in 2000 and hosted the first glass pumpkin patch in 2010.
The event has grown over the last 15 years. The first year, there were 108 pumpkins, all made by Gitlitz. By 2018, the patch displayed over 1,000.
Gitlitz said the event draws around 2,000 people. She said a line usually starts forming around 5:45 a.m.
"The first year that happened, it was homecoming, and I actually thought that they were drunk people who had not made it home the night before," Gitlitz said. "And I said, 'Can I help you?' And they said, 'Oh yeah, we're here for the pumpkin patch.'"
Pricing the pumpkins took 15 volunteers over four hours. Wrapping the priced pumpkins to transport them to the patch took over a day.
Gitlitz said pumpkin prices vary based on size, complexity and technique. Prices start at $25 and go up to $390.
BCGC glassblowing apprentices create pumpkins year-round for the patch. The apprentices, who range in age from 13 to 76, are taught the skill for free in exchange for making pumpkins once or twice a week every month except for July and August.
Each glass pumpkin is made by a team of three. One person gathers the glass and applies the color. The second, the gaffer, shapes the pumpkin. The third makes a stem for the gaffer to attach. The final look of a pumpkin depends on the combined skill level of the team.
"You'll see at the pumpkin patch some amazing pumpkins with very funny looking stems," Gitlitz said. "And you might have it the other way around. You might have a brand new gaffer, funny looking pumpkin with an amazing stem, with an experienced stemmer, and everything in between."
Pumpkins are only sold outside of the event in the week following the patch if pumpkins remain. Those will be sold at the glass center with their availability announced on social media.
"Even if we don't sell all the pumpkins, there's so many people who want to make pumpkins," Gitlitz said. "It's a fun way to get to learn how to blow glass and it's a fun way to be in community."