by Kelly Johnson

Fall is underway, and South Cobb Regional Library (SCRL) is with yet another full month. Amid the library’s continued support of Project U First and its weekly Hygiene Donation Drive, there will be one day dedicated to the glamming up of the Great Pumpkin—ahead of trick-or-treating on Halloween.

The Great Pumpkin is the fictional holiday spirit in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, an animation first featured in 1966 as a television special. The animation is based on Charles M. Shulz’s comic strip, Peanuts. It continues to be aired or watched during the Halloween season to this day.

Of course, the character who introduces the myth of the Great Pumpkin (to Charlie Brown and us, the viewers) is Linus. It is a fantastical myth, born of American culture, which attempts to explain the magic and wonder of Halloween; and it does a brilliant job in doing so. (But notice I said, attempts.) Let’s face it, Halloween tends to be a mystery to a lot of people, and this has led to a lot of interpretations. Perhaps that’s the allure of the holiday; it is blank slate which can be celebrated in an infinite number of ways. Most dress up and seek candy from neighbors and strangers alike. So, the Great Pumpkin is one such interpretation to explain Halloween, as innocent and child-like as it is.

For me though, Halloween has always had a more ethereal, spiritual attraction. One that transcends time, even predating Christianity, as learned from my history teacher in high school. The knowledge my teacher parted with had been more of an “us and them” comparison (since it was an all-Black school); but that resonated with me because what he shared wasn’t in the textbook—which all teacher’s should carry both first hand experiences and world knowledge (in my opinion). Nevertheless, he had explained the difference in attitude around time as to signify Halloween.

For Eurocentric cultures, Halloween marks a transition in which crops had to be harvested since the earth figuratively dies before winter, and there is only so much time in which to prepare before the ground hardens and trees gray. This is what the parable The Ant and the Grasshopper is about, preparing for the future which coincides with how our society, American culture, regards time. Especially from a capitalistic point of view. Thus, the proverbial saying, “time is money”, yes? Whereas for those who may be born into Afrocentric, Latin, and Asiatic cultures—especially those nearest the equator—there was no worry of lands succumbing to the winter equinox and so, time is a bountiful as the Earth’s oceans. This notion, this connection with nature lends itself to longer life expectancies, as well as different ways to celebrate the seasonal transition, or should I say planetary shift? For instance, the Nigerian Odo Festival celebrates “Halloween” for eight months, every two years. The Chinese may do it for fourteen days in July (of the Lunar calendar); they call it the Ghost Festival. However, their Mid-Autumn Festival occurs this time of year and it celebrates family rather than the indications of dying lands.

All of this said, though, the big picture is the intrinsic connection between land (the planet) and time and how this connection is celebrated in various ways by different people, largely due to a particular perspective or sense of time, which is innate. I think the following hyperlink offers a good run down of Halloween in America, beginning with the Celtic Festival, Samhain [pronounced “sow-in”]. For those of us assimilated here in Mableton, Cobb County and even in this country, I think costumes, candy, and the Great Pumpkin will do just fine.

To bring this back around, South Cobb Regional Library will be open October 27^th, on a Friday, from 4 PM to 5:30 PM for pumpkin painting. It’ll be a great opportunity to paint a Jack-o-lantern, because carving one can be messy. This isn’t to knock carving a pumpkin, but I recommend doing so closer to Halloween, or the day before or night of in order to keep it viable. Long enough to peel, slice, puree and store it in the freezer for Thanksgiving’s pumpkin pie—which is what I do. I’m sure painted pumpkin can be recycled as such as well. I mean, in a way, linking Halloween and the moral or belief of the Great Pumpkin to Thanksgiving through homemade pumpkin pie(s) does symbolize sacrifice, hope, and perseverance, one may be sustained in winter, or in life in general. I believe so.

Well, other noteworthy happenings at SCRL are:

• The availability of Paper Pumpkin Kits, Mondays and Wednesdays (except for October 23^rd, Monday), all month long (while supplies last);
• Balloon Splatter Painting, October 7^th, Saturday at 2:00 PM;
• Easy Breezy Watercolor For Beginners, October 9^th, Monday at 6:00 PM;
• Coaster for a Cause, October 10^th at 3:30 PM.

As always, check that book out. Get your creativity on. Your brain will thank you.

Be sure to subscribe to the Cobb County Public Library System’s (Library System) Newsletter here.

Underlined events are hyperlinked to the Cobb County Public Library’s website Events page.

All times are 24 hour or military time, Eastern Standard Time (EST).

OCTOBER 2023

WEEK 1

DATE	DAY	TIME (24hr)	EVENT
October 01, 2023	Sunday	13:00 – 17:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
October 02, 2023	Monday	10:00 -20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 20:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
		10:30 – 11:00	Family Sing and Dance Along
		17:00 – 18:00	Belly Dance
October 03, 2023	Tuesday	10:00 – 20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:30 – 11:00	Baby Time
October 04, 2023	Wednesday	10:00 – 20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 20:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
		10:30 – 11:00	Family Storytime
		11:00 – 12:00	Bubble Dance Party
October 05, 2023	Thursday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:30 – 12:00	Stay and Play
		15:00 – 16:30	Computer Basics and Digital Literacy
		15:30 – 16:30	STEAM Kids
October 06, 2023	Friday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 18:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
October 07, 2023	Saturday	10:00 – 17:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Porject U First
		11:00 – 11:30	Saturday Storytime
		14:00 – 15:00	Balloon Splatter Painting

OCTOBER 2023

WEEK 2

DATE	DAY	TIME (24hr)	EVENT
October 08, 2023	Sunday	13:00 – 17:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
October 09, 2023	Monday	10:00 – 20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 20:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
		18:00 – 19:00	Easy Breezy Watercolor for Beginners (with Marietta Cobb Museum of Art)
October 10, 2023	Tuesday	10:00 – 20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:30 – 11:00	Baby Time
		15:30 – 17:00	Coaster for a Cause
		16:30 – 17:30	No Fear Craft Club
October 11, 2023	Wednesday	10:00 – 20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 20:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
		10:30 – 11:00	Family Storytime
October 12, 2023	Thursday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		13:00 – 13:30	Parachute Play
		16:30 – 17:30	The Last Word Book Discussion
October 13, 2023	Friday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 18:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
October 14, 2023	Saturday	10:00 – 17:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First

OCTOBER 2023

WEEK 3

DATE	DAY	TIME (24hr)	EVENT
October 15, 2023	Sunday	13:00 – 17:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
October 16, 2023	Monday	10:00 – 20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 20:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
		10:30 – 11:00	Family Sing and Dance Along
		17:00 – 18:00	Belly Dance
		18:30 – 19:00	Pajama Storytime
October 17, 2023	Tuesday	10:00 – 20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:30 – 11:00	Baby Time
		16:30 – 17:30	No Fear Craft Club
October 18, 2023	Wednesday	10:00 – 20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 20:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
		10:30 – 11:00	Family Storytime
October 19, 2023	Thursday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:30 – 12:00	Stay and Play
		15:00 – 16:30	Computer Basics and Digital Literacy
October 20, 2023	Friday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 18:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
October 21, 2023	Saturday	10:00 – 17:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:30 – 11:30	Tween Book Club

OCTOBER 2023

WEEK 4

DATE	DAY	TIME (24hr)	EVENT
October 22, 2023	Sunday	13:00 – 17:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
October 23, 2023	Monday	10:00 – 20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 20:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
		10:30 – 11:00	Family Sing and Dance Along
		17:00 – 18:00	Belly Dance
		18:00 – 19:00	Graphic Novel Book Club [Virtual Program]
October 24, 2023	Tuesday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:30 – 11:00	Baby Time
October 25, 2023	Wednesday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 18:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
		10:30 – 11:00	Family Storytime
October 26, 2023	Thursday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
October 27, 2023	Friday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 18:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
		16:00 – 17:30	Pumpkin Painting
October 28, 2023	Saturday	10:00 – 18:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		11:00 – 13:00	Hocus Pocus Interactive Movie

OCTOBER 2023

WEEK 5

DATE	DAY	TIME (24hr)	EVENT
October 29, 2023	Sunday	13:00 – 17:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
October 30, 2023	Monday	10:00 – 20:00	Hygiene Donation Drive for Project U First
		10:00 – 20:00	Paper Pumpkin Kits
		10:30 – 11:00	Family Sing and Dance Along
		17:00 – 18:00	Belly Dance
		17:00 – 18:00	Lego Time