WESTBROOK -Westbrook art students kept the city’s 200th birthday celebration going last weekend, creating some 300 jack-o-lanterns for a good cause.

On Saturday, at Camp Sunshine’s annual Pumpkin Festival at L.L. Bean in Freeport, 28 students from Westbrook High School represented their hometown by showcasing hundreds of pumpkins, all depicting Westbrook landmarks and businesses.

Debra Bickford, the director of Westbrook’s visual arts department, said Monday that the theme was Westbrook’s bicentennial celebration, a choice that inspired creative output from all participating students. She added that some 100 students worked to carve the pumpkins between 1 p.m. last Wednesday and 8 p.m. Thursday.

The ambitious and detailed project included stacked pumpkins depicting the Dana Warp Mill, a group of pumpkins decorated as Saccarappa Falls and the Presumpscot River, and a pumpkin representing each business along Main Street.

Bickford said some downtown businesses sponsored pumpkins to donate to Camp Sunshine, a regional nonprofit that provides a summer camp in Casco for children with life-threatening illnesses.

The all-day festival in Freeport is one of two major pumpkin-themed fundraisers the organization puts on every year. From noon-8 p.m., festival-goers were treated to a costume parade and fun run, live music from five artists, pumpkin carving, and an official lighting of the jack-o-lanterns.

Matt Johnson, a visual arts teacher at the high school, said Tuesday that the bicentennial theme of the carving served as a good learning experience for students.

“Many of our students have come to Westbrook from other countries and it helped them get a little perspective of the city they live in,” he said. “Even students who have been in Westbrook their whole life not only got a little history lesson, but also a geography lesson.”

Johnson said the group made a map of Main Street and set up the pumpkins accordingly.

“Many students were not aware of some of the great local businesses that are located downtown. Westbrook is fortunate to have some great restaurants, coffee shops, galleries and beautiful parks located in such a concentrated area,” he said.

Ed Symbol, the owner of Full Court Press on Main Street, and a member of the Westbrook Downtown Coalition executive committee, said Tuesday that he attended the carving session at Westbrook High School, and was impressed.

He said students and staff were in “full overdrive designing and carving the pumpkins.”

“It was a testament to the dedication of the teachers and students working side by side well into the night to guarantee Westbrook was well represented at this event,” he said.

Bickford said Tuesday that this was the fifth year the school has been involved, adding that Westbrook is the only high school asked to do a theme-based installment.

She agreed with Johnson that this year, like past years, was a learning experience for students. She said some students knew about Westbrook’s recent bicentennial, and what it meant, while some didn’t.

“Seeing the mills at each end of the installment and how the river connects us visually was important,” she said. “To see our city represented in such a positive way made the kids very proud.”

Bickford said she and the students were excited to learn that Camp Sunshine used their pumpkins to promote the event on their Facebook page, and that grocer Whole Foods used a photo of a Westbrook pumpkin to publicize local events.

Following the event, Bickford said, five crates of pumpkin seeds were delivered to a Westbrook Regional Vocational Center culinary arts teacher to be roasted. .

Westbrook art students carved the logos of the Westbrook Blue Blazes, Camp Sunshine and L.L. Bean for a display at Camp Sunshine’s annual Pumpkin Festival fundraiser at L.L. Bean in Freeport. Westbrook is the only high school asked to do a themed series each year.  

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