The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll - Behind the Scenes of a Media Preview Event

The Election's Over

2008-11-05T07:53:00.007-05:00

The pumpkins and analysts congratulate all the winners, particularly Kay Hagan, whose win was predicted on October 24 by The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll.

On this site, we will continue to post photos and video from the actual Crossroads Pumpkin Fest, one of North Carolina's premier events. And we hope you'll mark your calendars for the first Saturday in November when the pumpkin chunkin' and downtown street festival is held.

In the short time this blog has been live, it has been visited by people in 24 states and 8 foreign countries. And CNN even checked us out!

I invite you to check out this recap video.

Waiting ....

2008-11-04T10:42:00.003-05:00

In 2004, The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll garnered a whopping 80 percent accuracy. This time, pumpkin analysts predict a 66 percent accuracy, but only time will tell. The reason for the difference in numbers is that we chucked fewer "races" this time because of rain. We said publically the weather was "the dampening effect of the economy."

Press Release - Pumpkins Predict McCrory to Win

2008-11-01T18:17:00.003-04:00

STATESVILLE, NC – According to the pumpkins, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory is predicted to be North Carolina’s next governor. In a pumpkin chuckin’ held in Statesville on Saturday, the McCrory pumpkin narrowly defeated that of Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue by 2 yards.

They flew through the sky and splattered 81 and 79 feet, respectively.

The event was part of the 6th Annual Crossroads Pumpkin Fest that was held on Saturday, November 1. The street festival included a pumpkin chunkin’ where catapults and trebuchets hurled the seasonal gourd in a regulated contest. Teams came from the Statesville area and Lenoir.

The contest began on Friday, October 24 with The Great Heads of State Exit Poll, the name of a media preview designed to promote the street festival. At that event, pumpkin heads drawn to represent political candidates were hurled to predict winners of this year’s election.

Only 4 yards separated the winning McCain/Palin “ticket” from the Democrats.

In North Carolina’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race, State Senator Kay Hagan soundly defeated incumbent Elizabeth Dole.

And the governor’s race tied, with pumpkins landing 86 feet from their starting point. So on Saturday, the chuck-off was held to determine a prediction.

In 2004, the Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll garnered an 80 percent accuracy. Pumpkin analysts expect the 2008 event to be 66 percent accurate.

The difference in the numbers is that more pumpkins were tossed in 2004 than in 2008 because of a “dampened economy,” which translates to a soaking rain that cancelled the October 24 contest.

Organizers are eagerly awaiting the real national vote to see how accurate the pumpkin predictions are. And so are people outside of North Carolina.

Photo Gallery

2008-10-30T16:27:00.013-04:00

As soon as I got ahold of the pumpkins, they immediately had to go on display at the media preview. They were painted with water soluable tempra paint. It washes out of clothing - and also runs onto hands. So some of these portraits are smeared. Others were protected. It's amazing to see how talented these 7th and 8th graders are!

Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx wasn't on the sample ballot I had, but she does
represent a portion of Iredell County. Democrat Roy Carter is running against her.

Republican incumbant Steve Troxler is going up against Democrat Ronnie Ansley for the North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture. This being an agriculture event, I had the pleasure of talking with Mr. Ansley and a representative from Mr. Troxler's office. They already had speaking engagements elsewhere, but really wanted to attend. We'll see on Nov. 1 which one will win!

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory's pumpkin head tied 86 yards with Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue. They're running for governor. Her head split wide open. We left it for the deer. Pat's head made it, but the battle shows all over his face!

Liddy Dole's head sailed, but didn't make it as far as Kay Hagan's. And you'll note that the real Kay Hagan WANTED her pumpkin head - so scroll back down to the post to see how her husband responded when it was handed to him!

Sarah Palin's lipstick didn't smear during the entire catapulting process. But, John McCain really took a beating! They survived to win the event.

Joe Biden and Barack Obama made it through the pumpkin chunkin' pretty much unscathed, but still lost by a narrow margin. North Carolina is a swing state - will this prediction come true?

Bob Crumley (R) is going up against incumbant Roy Cooper(D) for the NC Attorney General post.

I was unable to get photos of all the local candidates to pass along to the students. Since it rained on our event, the names on the bottoms of the pumpkins are somewhat difficult to read.

Press Release: Art Students Learn About Politics Through Pumpkin Fest Project

2008-10-30T15:42:00.003-04:00

STATESVILLE, NC – Art students at the American Renaissance Middle School in Statesville learned first-hand a little about the political process this past week. They were chosen to draw political candidates’ faces on pumpkins for a pumpkin chunkin’ event designed to “predict” the outcome of this year’s election.
On Friday, October 24, a media preview was held to promote the Statesville Crossroads Pumpkin Fest. The idea was to catapult pumpkins drawn up to look like candidates. Those that landed the farthest “won.”
“A similar event was held in 2004 that drew an increased number of people to the festival,” said media preview organizer Greta Lint. She is providing public relations services for the Statesville Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We call the media preview The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll. The results get the media’s attention – which translates to promotion for the street festival,” she explained.
“In 2004, we used a local characteurist. This time, we had an opportunity to provide local students with a chance to learn how to draw on a sphere and feel involved in the political process,” she added.
Principal Steve Gay and art instructor Ashely Bell paved the way for the students’ involvement. Lint provided thirty 3 – 3 ½ pound pumpkins, photos, material for blue and red capes and a sample Iredell County ballot.
Bell said the class was very excited when she explained the project.
“Most of them were familiar with presidential, vice-presidential and governor races,” she said. “Some students personally knew some of the county commissioners. But, they learned what the red and blue stood for, as well as what the term incumbent means. And, they learned that a third person was running for president and governor!”
But when it came to the actual drawing, there were some challenges.
“It was difficult to get for them to draw on a non-flat spherical form,” said Bell. “Even though I washed them, it was hard to get a black permanent marker to adhere.” She continued that it took most of the students two days to draw and paint the heads. They used tempera paints because it easily washes out of clothing.
“Students said the Obama, Palin and McCain faces were the easiest ones to draw,” she explained.” But as in all portrait work, the nose and mouth were the most difficult.”
Even though the political pumpkin chunkin’ event was held on a teachers’ work day, some of the students and parents attended. After the McCain pumpkin flew out of the catapult and landed 81 yards away, young artist Morgan Dixon picked it up and reviewed the damage. “It was tough. Didn’t bust.” When she learned that this event is held only in years with a general election, she was disappointed. According to organizer Joel Leonard, she was encouraged that perhaps she could help build the trebuchet at Mitchell Community College and that her siblings will be old enough to paint the candidates in 2012.
The students’ pumpkins will be on display during the Crossroads Pumpkin Fest on Saturday, November 1 in downtown Statesville.

Hagan's Head Hand Delivered

2008-10-30T13:39:00.004-04:00

When performing The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll, a common question by the media was what was the reaction from the candidates regarding having their images painted on pumpkins.

Our candid response was mixed. When researching for pictures so the 7th and 8th grade artists from the American Renaissance School could paint an accurate image, we contacted all of the candidates. And yes, there were some who did not respond to our request for pictures and some were confused and did not understand our purpose despite our explanation. However, there were a few who instantly got the humor and got as much of a chuckle if not more than we did.

One of those was Senator Hagan and her team. In fact they had contacted us and wanted her pumpkin head if it survived the exit poll. So when Joel Leonard encountered Senator Hagan's husband at the Piedmont Triad Partnership Annual meeting, he went back out to his car and was able to present Mr Chip Hagan his wife's head. That impromptu ceremony last night caused numerous head scratching and consternation by some of the attendees.

But with all of the serious issues that our leaders have to grapple, it is great to know that they can have fun with this crazy prediction method. Most importantly, Mr. Hagan marvelled that the students were able to build trebuchets and get excited about engineering and physics in the process.

More Airtime for The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll

2008-10-29T22:14:00.002-04:00

This event continues to be launched into the blogosphere and other media outlets around the world. SkillTV, an online TV show featured the benefits of student participation and skill development. Regardless of the accuracy of the Exit Poll the most important outcome of this event is that numerous future workers were turned onto developing engineering skills. With the exodus of the boomer generation this is very important activity and actually much more important that predicting the election.
For more info http://www.plantservices.com/industrynews/2008/137.html

There's "W!"

2008-10-28T12:23:00.004-04:00

Check out the trebuchet above and you will see "W's" pumpkin on the right side overseeing the launch. He obviously didn't want to get in the way of all the slinging ....

Where was "W" during the launch?

2008-10-28T12:17:00.005-04:00

Several have asked - "Where was "W" when The Great Heads of Stateville Exit Poll launch occured? "

Welcome NCSL Visitors

2008-10-28T12:13:00.003-04:00

We are delighted to learn that the National Conference of State Legislatures have discovered The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll. View their blog posting at http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/2008/10/new-exit-poll-pumpkin-launch.html. I see in the analytics that someone in Hawaii state government was curious and opened the link today.

Media Preview Photos

2008-10-27T12:15:00.003-04:00

Press Release: Pumpkins Proclaim Political Winners

2008-10-27T12:08:00.004-04:00

Pumpkin Chunkin’ Exit Poll Predicts Presidential Winner;
80 Percent Accurate in 2004

STATESVILLE, NC – According to the pumpkins, the McCain/Palin presidential ticket will land the White House.

That prediction was determined during The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll in Statesville, North Carolina on Friday, October 24. Pie pumpkins, weighing 3 pounds each, were catapulted from a trebuchet. Official pumpkin chunkin’ rules were used to determine the scores.
Distances were added together for the presidential contests.

Senator John McCain’s pumpkin spun to the right and bounced 81 yards from the catapult, while Governor Sarah Palin’s initially veered to the left, but pulled back to the right before landing 85 yards.
On the Democratic side, both pumpkins stayed true to the left. The Senator Barack Obama pumpkin flew 79 yards, while Senator Joe Biden’s gourd sailed 83 yards.

The total distance was 166 yards for the Republican ticket and 162 for the Democrat.

In the North Carolina bid for the US Senate seat, the pumpkin for Kay Hagan (D) aimed for the left while it soundly defeated incumbent Elizabeth Dole (R) 85-79 yards, whose pumpkin leaded to the right.

The pumpkins reinforced that the gubnatorial race between Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue (D) and Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory (R) is a toss-up. Both pumpkins were hurled 86 yards, meaning a run-off is be needed. Like the senatorial race, the gubnatorial pumpkins stayed true to their respective party lines.

The contest was scheduled to include other races, but heavy rains caused the process to end.

The trebuchets were designed and constructed by physics and mechanical engineering students at Mitchell Community College. Artwork on the pumpkins was provided by 7th and 8th graders at the American Renaissance Charter School in Statesville.

The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll was actually a media preview for the Crossroads Pumpkin Fest to be held in Statesville on Saturday, November 1. The festival will include a pumpkin chunking competition from 8:30-10:30 a.m. during which the McCrory/Perdue race will be predicted. A street festival with pie-eating, pumpkin smashing and pumpkin bowling contests will be held throughout the day in downtown Statesville. For more information on that event, call 877-531-1819 or log onto http://www.statesvillepumpkinfest.com/.

For more information about the media preview, log onto http://thegreatheadsofstatesvilleexitpoll.blogspot.com/ or call the media preview event organizers Greta Lint and Joel Leonard at 336-626-0527.

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Those 18 Million Cracks

2008-10-27T11:54:00.004-04:00

Initial plans called for us to toss Hillary at the end to see how far she really would have gone. However, because of the rain, we didn't. So now we'll never know .... (Didn't artist Melanie Elam do a great job?)

More Photos from the Media Preview

2008-10-27T11:50:00.004-04:00

2008-10-26T22:50:00.004-04:00

In the middle of planning for the Crossroads Pumpkin Fest, the town of Statesville also has been getting ready for the Carolina BalloonFest, the second-oldest hot air balloon rally in the USA. Time-Warner Cable News 14 was a media sponsor and filed this report.

(Yes, some volunteers are working on both events - so needless to say - there's no day off this week!)

http://news14.com/content/top_stories/600815/statesville-skies-fill-with-balloons/Default.aspx

Patch full of Political Pumpkins

2008-10-26T10:20:00.000-04:00

No Smashed Pumpkin for McCain

2008-10-25T23:52:00.003-04:00

Candidates are supporting Pumpkin Stem Cell Research

2008-10-25T23:43:00.002-04:00

As word spreads about the results of The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll, many of the candidates want to research how the pumpkin stems affected the results.

More Airtime for the Heads of Statesville Exit Poll

2008-10-25T22:29:00.002-04:00

Check out this cute video of the Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll on the Statesville Landmark home page http://www2.statesville.com/video/2008/oct/24/great-heads-statesville-exit-poll/

Exit Poll continues to make headlines

2008-10-25T22:21:00.003-04:00

Statesville Landmark bursts the news about the Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll http://www2.statesville.com/content/2008/oct/25/pumpkin-hurling-has-election-season-flavor/news-local/

More Coverage

2008-10-25T21:58:00.004-04:00

The High Point, North Carolina FOX TV station, WGHP, captured all the action and the final tally. Here's their story:

http://www.myfoxwghp.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7719805&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

And WBTV, the CBS station in Charlotte, broadcast this: http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=9236182

The Statesville Record & Landmark ran this story and posted an excellent video from the 2007 pumpkin chunkin'. http://www2.statesville.com/content/2008/oct/25/pumpkin-hurling-has-election-season-flavor/news-local/

Fire in the Hole-- Launching Pumpkins to predict election

2008-10-24T21:35:00.003-04:00

No Pumpkin Left Behind: Experiential Education proves to work

2008-10-24T20:19:00.006-04:00

The students from Mitchell Community College absolutely loved the experience of building, and launching the Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll. This event continues to provide excitement to help develop future engineers.

Physics instructor, Doug Knight, said this kind of activity helps create interest and experiential learning that is much deeper than reading a book or looking at a chalkboard.

Fair and Balanced Exit Poll

2008-10-24T20:17:00.001-04:00

All pumpkins were measured to make sure that the Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll was Fair and Balanced.

18 Million Cracks in the Glass Ceiling

2008-10-24T20:13:00.001-04:00

An event covering the 2008 election cannot neglect featuring Hillary Clinton's historic run for President in the primaries.

Results

2008-10-24T18:36:00.003-04:00

McCain and Palin won with their pumpkins hurling 166 yards. Obama and Biden came in at 162.

Kay Hagan beat Liz Dole. Hagan's pumpkin soared 85 yards while Dole's only reached 79.

The governorship of the state of North Carolina remains undecided. Both the Perdue and McCrory pumpkins tied. There will be another chunking on Nov. 1 during the Statesville Pumpkin Fest.

We had to suspend "voting" after these races as the skies were dumping rain on us. However, we did have WBTV (CBS in Charlotte), WGHP (Fox in High Point), Time-Warner News 14 and the Statesville Record and Landmark cover the event. I anticipate the story will go national on CBS, Fox and through the Associated Press. We learned this evening that the NBC station in Charlotte may have pulled video from the 2004 event and aired this year's story. How did they get the results? I need to call them and find out.

And during all this - people were arriving at the Statesville Visitors' Center to take in a fun-filled weekend of a balloon rally in Statesville. They had read about the event in the Raleigh News & Observer.

Love it when a plan comes to fruition! Now I've got to follow up with a news story about the results that will be sent to papers that don't subscribe to AP, send a photo to the Greensboro News & Record and write a story about the 8th graders for the Statesville Record and Landmark.

The Music Man

2008-10-23T21:23:00.003-04:00

Joel Leonard, my "creative department," has been slaving over a new computer to download some political music we can play during the event.

In 2004, a super Statesville DJ set up and played music that really complemented our event. Well, he's retired and has sold his equipment. This is a low-budget event, so we couldn't hire another DJ. We're having to make due. Oh, he picked out some goodies! And along the way, he found some political tunes that are really funny. I know they'll appeal to those of us over 40 - but I don't know about the younger ones.

A lot of event organizers understand operating on a low budget. It opens the door for creativity - and Joel's got an international reputation for his level of thinking outside the box. Why, I just bet we'll even hear one of HIS songs tomorrow. He has written 2 - "The Maintenance Crisis Song" and "Find Me a Maintenance Woman." You can download them at www.SkillTV.net. The engineering students and faculty will be able to relate to the words. (Check out his opera version!)

Rocket Science

2008-10-23T21:13:00.004-04:00

Doug Knight, Ph.D. loves to make his physics class interesting and fun. I met with two pre-med students who said they always had trouble with physics, that chemistry was much easier - until they got into his class.

Fair and Balanced

2008-10-23T21:01:00.004-04:00

I borrowed this set of old scales from local humorist and ace fly-fisherman, Richard Griggs, who owns an outfitter store in downtown Statesville. The pumpkin actually weighs 3 pounds. But with politics, does it really matter?

Artists At Work

2008-10-23T20:39:00.007-04:00

Here are some photos of the art classroom. These photos didn't make the cut for the print folks - but I can share them here with you. I did ask the school to make sure they had permission from all the students so we could use their photos in event publicity. The school said we were okay.

Pumpkin Fest Offers Art Class New Challenge

2008-10-23T20:21:00.005-04:00

STATESVILLE, NC – The 8th grade art class at American Renaissance Middle School in Statesville was chosen to participate in a media preview event to promote the 6th Annual Crossroads Pumpkin Fest. The media preview was held on Friday, October 24 and was called “The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll.” Here art student Benjamin Waugh draws a picture of presidential candidate John McCain. (Double click on photo to make it full screen.) Engineering and physics students from Mitchell Community College built catapults and hurled pumpkins drawn to look like selected candidates. The gourds that flew the farthest predicted the outcome of the November 4 general election.
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Now wouldn't you know it --- I am not a photographer. I took all kinds of shots the morning I visited the classroom. Afterwards, I took my camera to the local daily paper's photographer and asked him to pick out what he thought was useful. After I uploaded my images, this was the only one that worked. Others were fuzzy somewhere.

Making the Media Kits

2008-10-23T17:16:00.003-04:00

I like handing out press packets to media when they show up. I've learned throughout the years that typically the reporter or photographer who covers the story only gets bits and pieces of information from higher-ups. And that situation happened today. A reporter who is coming from outside his market to cover this function called asking for directions and details. All he had was my name, phone number and a short description of what it's all about.

So I've been printing out releases today - and sending the general release to outlets that I know won't be able to attend the media preview. The cost of gas has really cut into many news outlets' pockets.

One of the major newspapers I spoke to said they are going to try and send a videographer - that they're doing more online with video these days. That's a trend for small and large papers.

North Carolina has two Associated Press offices. I called both and alerted them that a local paper is planning on posting a story with photos. The AP photographer was glad, as he has tomorrow off. He felt he needed to call the local paper and request additional photos be posted.

The goal is that AP and some of the other media outlets who show up will send the stories up the ladder for national distribution. We were tickled with that kind of response in 2004.

Press Release - Pumpkin Chunkin’ Contest Launches Crossroads Pumpkin Fest

2008-10-23T17:13:00.004-04:00

STATESVILLE, NC – On Medieval battlegrounds, warriors used siege engines to hurl deadly balls of fire or large rocks into walled cities. Today, ingenious local students are studying about the primitive type of warfare in engineering and physics classes. They’re learning about Sir Isaac Newton’s second law of motion – force equals mass times acceleration. Only this time, they’re putting a different spin on it – force equals pumpkin destruction!
Students at Mitchell Community College, in Statesville, and North Iredell High School are building catapults and trebuchets to use during the 6th Annual Crossroads Pumpkin Fest on Saturday, November 1. Budding members in the motorsports, medical and engineering fields will be slinging orange gourds to see how far they will go.
The Bell and Howard Chevrolet Pumpkin Chunkin’ Competition, presented by Mitchell Community College, will be held at the old landfill
located behind the Statesville City Parks and Recreation office on Signal Hill Drive. Pumpkins will be flying from 8:30 – 11 a.m.
The event is free and open to the public. Bystanders will see six teams. Some will use trebuchets using counterweights. Others will bring catapults that incorporate an elastic spring action to propel the sling.
“Pumpkins will roll, bounce and splatter,” says MCC physics instructor Doug Knight, Ph.D. “All competitors will use the little pie pumpkins that weigh 4-6 pounds. Our team, the MCC Projectile Society, is looking for a good match against the high school students.”
Chunkers from North Iredell High School won the 2007 contest.
This year, the competition has two categories – junior and senior division. Each team will hurl pumpkins six times. Distances will be averaged to determine scores. Pumpkins are expected to fly 125-150 yards.
Winning teams in the junior and senior division will take home $250 and $500, respectively, and a trophy. Despite last year’s loss, Dr. Knight’s students have built a reputation for their creativity and skill, such as building and firing a 50-lb rocket a half-mile into the sky. One of his students, Josh Calnan, landed a paid internship with NASA this past summer.
“This really is rocket science,” says Knight. “You can watch some of the videos from prior years on You Tube and see what we’re talking about.”
For more information about the competition, log onto http://www.statesvillepumpkinfest.com/ or call Dr. Knight at 704-978-5432.

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My Mom's Pumpkins

2008-10-23T08:27:00.005-04:00

My mother , Carmen Lint in Conover, North Carolina, paints portraits professionally, but also found the fake pumpkins to be a challenge. She sent my dad back to the grocery store for some real pumpkins. By that time, all the 3 pounders were gone and he wound up with one weighing around 1 pound. It was small. She had hoped to be able to use one that was a similar size. No such luck.

By watching TV, she was able to pick up on some of the candidates' features. She used acrylic paint and some old brushes to do the work. I really wish I had initially asked her to do a Hillary pumpkin, but when you're 83 years old, you need a little notice to do projects. She was worn out after doing this one.

Practice Drawing

2008-10-23T08:20:00.004-04:00

It's a little more difficult than one would think. And unlike real pumpkins, the fake ones had very deep ridges in them. Here Joel Leonard tries his hand at painting. He threw his hands up, went back to the grocery store and got a couple more of the real thing. He said they were much easier to work with. He used white out for McCain and Biden's white hair.

Weighing in on the Pumpkins

2008-10-23T08:06:00.005-04:00

I went to Wal-Mart the other day and got 30 pumpkins for the art class in Statesville. They were 78 cents a pound. Normally I would have gone to a farmer, but time is of the essence. Wal-mart is a half-mile from my house.

(I also got some fake pumpkins so we would have some promotional items to keep to promote the 2012 event. Besides, we learned in 2004 that you need a second set of pumpkins. Otherwise, you're throwing away your photo op!)

I needed to weigh the pumpkins to make sure they were "fair and balanced" projectiles. So I had two buggies at the scales. Most wound up being 3 pounds. I found two that were 3 1/4 and two more that were 3 1/2.

Quite a few people commented about all the pies I was going to be making.

No, I've never made a pumpkin pie in my life. Learned last night from a gardening friend that they're really easy to do - and that you need to bake them 1 - 1/2 hours. I might try my hand at one in November, after the Statesville Pumpkin Fest is over.

Posting an Event Promo on You Tube

2008-10-19T11:58:00.006-04:00

I attended ConvergeSouth, a blogging users' conference last week, and learned that the more you can use video, the better. Earlier in the week, I taped Dr. Doug Knight, physics instructor, at Mitchell Community College in Statesville as he cut a 1 minute promo for the Bell & Howard Chevrolet Pumpkin Chunkin' Competition that will be held on Saturday, November 1, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Statesville, North Carolina.

I have posted video from my phone, but this was my first from an HD camera. So I had to go through a learning curve. First came the editing - that was easy. Then came the actual posting. My camera uses a .pds file. You Tube, Quicken, Microsoft, etc. don't recognize that extension. So, it took me quite awhile to figure out what to do. But when I did, the posting was very easy.

Here it is:

The Media Advisory

2008-10-16T17:51:00.002-04:00

When's the last time you spoke with someone at the North Pole? Well, I did today. No, no one from there can attend, but they sure are interested in the results!

I'm posting this - but have deleted the whereabouts because we simply cannot accommodate all the people who would want to attend.

STATESVILLE, NC – Who is going to win the election of the president, governor, senator and other heated races? Working with the Statesville PumpkinFest, I have developed a new way to predict the outcome - and to vent some steam after enduring two years of being subjected to countless ads, debates and news stories. We’re going to sling “political” gourds, not mud. Whichever plops the farthest – wins!

On Friday, October 24 at 1 p.m., The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll will be held to determine the winners of this years’ election. This event is closed to the public. Only press and candidates are invited.

(Afterwards, at 3 p.m., the Carolina BalloonFest will begin at the Statesville Regional Airport. We welcome you to both events. The BalloonFest will be open to the public. We expect 50 balloons. The afternoon mass ascension will be at 4:30 p.m.)

Here’s the setting - catapults will toss pumpkins with politicians faces painted on them. We will feature selected local, regional, state and national races. We anticipate having around 20 political “heads,” so arriving by 1 p.m. is critical to catch the action.

This is actually an event to promote the 6th Annual PumpkinFest in downtown Statesville on November 1. A pumpkin chunking contest will be held that morning at the same place as the media preview. The festival and contest will be open to the public. The media preview will not.

This same media preview was held in October 2004 and garnered an 80 percent accuracy – one of the highest exit poll surveys in the nation. The story ran on NBC Nightly News, Associated Press picked it up – and it was included in a humorous editorial in the LA Times.

In 2004, the pumpkins representing John Kerry, Dick Cheney and George W. Bush soared high and went a few hundred feet. The head for John Edwards plopped 10 feet away from the trebuchet.

The catapults have been designed and built by students and faculty in the engineering and physics programs at Mitchell Community College in Statesville. They have built a reputation for their creativity and skill, such as building and firing a 50-lb rocket a half-mile into the sky. Dr. Doug Knight is in charge of the project at the college.

Children at the American Renaissance Charter School in Statesville will be painting the pumpkins. This will be their opportunity to learn about government, political campaigns and painting on a spherical shape.
For more information, contact Greta Lint at (office) 336-626-0527 or (cell) 336-963-1102.
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2008 - Incorporating education with politics - in a positive way

2008-10-16T17:47:00.001-04:00

This year's event is panning out to be a little different than the one in 2004. We are using the old landfill as the firing range. Mitchell Community College, in Statesville, is challenging faculty and students to build the trebuchets and catapults - and students from the American Renaissance Charter School in Statesville will be painting politicos' faces on the pumpkins.

An idea is born

2008-10-15T08:54:00.001-04:00

In 2004, the Statesville Convention and Visitors Bureau hired me to help promote the Crossroads PumpkinFest. It was going to be held on the first Saturday of November.

Since the festival was only one year old, I felt it needed a media boost in some way. I learned that part of the event encompassed a catapult competition, whereby trebuchets would be tossing pumpkins. Those hurled the farthest would win.

With some events, I like to do a media preview. This one beckoned - but what would be the hook?

So I spoke with Joel Leonard, my "creative department." Immediately he came up with the idea for The Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll. We would create a spoof on the election, toss pumpkins drawn up to resemble political candidates, and see which one "won."

The event would be held two weeks prior to the general election.