A handful of Clark Fork Valley Hospital Long Term Care residents showed their artistic talents by carving pumpkins for Halloween last week.

Virginia Brown, Rose Neumeyer, Cheryl King, and Mary Ann Thompson created their jack-o'-lanterns last Wednesday morning with the help of Del Smith, the activities director, and Kayla VonHeeder, a certified nursing assistant. The group spent just over an hour on their creations, which will be displayed at the nursing home.

It didn't take long for the residents to clean out the pumpkin innards, separating the seeds so the kitchen staff could bake them for the residents. They then used markers to draw the jack-o'-lantern faces. All four deviated from the traditional jack-o'-lantern look, some more than others.

"My arms are going to be tired after all this," said Brown as she worked on getting the mouth carved out. Brown made her lantern eyes with points at the bottom and round on top. She said she used to carve pumpkins while growing up near Plains, but had to make sure the deer didn't get them. She attributed her carving skills to being a farmer's daughter. Brown did most of her carving without assistance.

"They really had fun and it's a good activity for them," said Smith, who's coordinated a pumpkin carving project for Halloween with the residents for the last three years. It's tough for some of the residents to do the actual carving, so the staff helps with that. Ninety-nine-year-old Thompson didn't do her pumpkin, but directed VonHeeder throughout the entire project, which included vampire teeth.

King's pumpkin had one triangle eye and one round eye. The 70-year-old King said the pumpkin carving project took her back to the days of doing it with her children. Her jack-o'-lantern is on display outside the building on the steps, said Smith, primarily because the insides of her pumpkin were rotten and gave off an unpleasant odor. The rest are displayed inside with battery-operated candles inside them.

"The residents all thought they were great. I put the lights in them and turned the lights off. It was pretty neat to see the reactions and smiles when the lights came back on," Smith said about how awesome the pumpkins looked.

Ed Moreth

HALLOWEEN SPIRIT – Residents of the Clark Fork Valley Hospital Long Term Care work on their pumpkin carving skills in getting ready for Halloween. From left: Mary Ann Thompson, Cheryl King, Activities Director Del Smith, Virginia Brown, Kayla VonHeeder, a certified nursing assistant, and Rose Neumeyer.

"This is a chance for them to do something with their hands," said Smith, who organizes numerous activities for the residents throughout the year. He said the jack-o'-lantern carving isn't just for the residents to be physically active, it brings back happy memories of Halloween with their kids or when they were children. "And they like it when the kids come in trick or treating and the kids see the pumpkins," said Smith.

The residents will be hosting a Christmas bazaar on Dec. 7-8 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Smith said that all the money raised goes to things the residents want at the facility. In the past, the money has gone for chairs, electric drapes, and an exercise machine.