Ellicottville Distillery Makes Pumpkins Fly
Ellicottville Distillery Makes Pumpkins Fly
Annual Punkin’ Chunkin’ Event Returns November 4th
Halloween will soon be behind us but the decorations will remain. What do we do with all of the jack-o-lantern corpses and extra squash lying around? Sure, some of it can be turned into pies but we probably don’t need 500 of those, so what can be done? Don’t worry, Ellicottville Distillery has just the event for you. Come on out to 5462 Robbins Road on November 4th from 12:00-6:00pm for the annual Punkin’ Chunkin’ event.
What exactly is Punkin’ Chunkin’ you ask? Well, that’s where the Distillery takes leftover pumpkins of various sizes, (with some pretty big ones added, just for the fun of it) and sends them soaring with the use of a full size trebuchet. A trebuchet is a catapult with a sling on the end to throw objects even farther, and it’s operated with a counterweight that drops and sets the arm in motion.
Distillery owner, Bryan Scharf, let us know that the trebuchet is being supplied by Team Urban Siege out of Concord. They are a group of friends who have been building their own trebuchets since 2006 and they’ve competed in the World Punkin’ Chunkin’ Championship. (Yes, there is a competition for throwing pumpkins and Team Urban Siege were the 2012 World Champions.) They will be competing again in Dayton, OH on October 7th, aiming to beat their personal best, which was throwing a pumpkin over 1/2 a mile - whoo, that’s a distance! If you are interested in learning more about the team you can visit teamurbansiege.com.
Besides the fun of watching huge squash fly over the hill, there will be more live entertainment as well. Local favorites The Hick-Ups will be rocking the stage from 3:00-6:00pm, with their mix of country, bluegrass and rock classics. They’re always ready to bring the party to whatever venue they play.
Bryan also said that there will be a food truck on site. 2 Buckaroos will be serving up cheeseburgers, chicken or cheese enchiladas with rice and more varieties of comfort food for the colder time of year. But if the cold doesn’t bother you much, Ashford Junction Depot will have their ice cream truck on site as well, with their scoops and milkshakes for your after dinner sweets fix.
The event is FREE and family friendly. It could also be considered educational, as all ages can learn about the trebuchet and how it was created. Also, Bryan said he’ll be dressed up in his field Marshall attire and if anyone else wants to dress up for the occasion, they are more than welcome to.
It’s going to be a great event, which the Distillery excels at hosting. They’ve got more plans in the works after this happy hurling event. Bryan stated, “We'll be releasing a 6 year old bourbon December 16th, then do our liquor mile (where you receive a drink at each rest point), and hope to have a 5K organized for December 31st. Then January 22nd will be the annual Christmas tree funeral fire, where everyone can bring their Christmas trees and we can safely dispose of them while having a good time.”
So make sure to keep up on all the happenings at the Ellicottville Distillery by visiting their Facebook or ellicottvilledistillery.com. They look forward to seeing everyone on November 4th at 12:00pm when the pumpkins start flying.
