DETROIT LAKES
— People of all ages strolled into a bustling Bucks Mill Brewing on Saturday afternoon with armfuls of plentiful, plump and petite pumpkins to plummet.
The first annual Great Pumpkin Smash was a “smashing” success — as organizer Katie Poppler put it — with roughly 150 pumpkins dropped from the brewery’s second story into a makeshift pit of tarps and pallets, whacked off a tee with a baseball bat, or used as bowling balls. Some pumpkins needed to be dropped a handful of times over because of their size.
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The smash yielded more than 1,300 pounds of organic waste, filling more than six compost bins, according to Todd Kunkle of Becker County Environmental Services. Along with being a fun, offbeat post-Halloween celebration, it was also a chance for people to learn about composting in Becker County.
“I was hoping for at least three containers,” Kunkle said when asked if he expected such a turnout. “Right now, we’ve got six containers, and I brought six more.”
He added that the pumpkins will go to an industrial composting facility, and said that smashed pumpkins take up less space while still packing on the pounds. The smashed pumpkins were transported to Pope/...