Build Yourself A Pumpkin Train

Build yourself a pumpkin train AG WORLD Ag World 12-2-19 Traffic screetches to a stop as passersby take a "second look" at the unique "pump-kin train" that decorates the front yard of David and Janice Erickson's home in Eau Claire, Wis. It features a "corn stalk pony" with a pumpkin head and corn ears, driven by a pumpkin-headed driver, and hauling a cart full of pumpkins. The Ericksons created the popular "pumpkin art" for Halloween last fall. They bundled up about 100 corn stalks and used twine to tie the bundles to a wooden saw-horse frame (4 ft. long and 30 in. high). On one end of the frame, a 1-1/2 ft. board, set at an angle, holds the long pumpkin which forms the pony's head. Sections sliced from corn ears and enclosed in black oval patches form the eyes. A bundle of weeds serves as the pony's tail. The driver, stuffed with straw, has a board running down its middle with a small platform at the top supporting the shoulders. The morning after Halloween last year, the Ericksons woke up to find that someone had put a pile of fresh manure behind the horse. "To this day, we don't know who did that but we had a good laugh about it," says Janice.

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