Tonight is our elementary school’s big event of the year, “Pumpkin lighting.” An army of volunteers have been working individually, together, and with the students, staff, and teachers to pull off a massive fun hay riding, haybale mazing, pumpkin decorating, carnival game having, catere4d food eating, laughter inducing good time!

I’ve been blessed to be able to be a small part of the preparations this year! Wheeeee!  The head of the organizing committee for the event (or actually, her hubs) got two sheets of plywood and some paint for me to work with.

I set to work doodling out some ideas, then sketched the winners onto the plywood. I tried to make the cutouts at comfortable/reachable height for the kids (or squattable height for the grown-ups) and spaced far enough apart so the kids wouldn’t be on top of each other behind the boards.

Add paint, cut holes, and TAH-DAH!

There! Thanks to Lois’s husband who got & hauled the wood, built the stands, and cut the holes, we now have a great couple of photo ops for the hundreds of people to take advantage of tonight (and for years to come)! A great way to pass the time while folks wait for their next hayride, mayhaps?!

YAY! Use the gifts God’s given you to add value to the world around you! If you are looking for a way to volunteer at your local schools, just ASK! Your school will probably be more than happy to oblige your request to be a servant on their campus in a way that uses your gifts!

Meanwhile, I love the pumpkin-headless horseman (especially since our school mascot is the mustang), but I wish I’d made more silly options… Maybe a muscle man… or a silly costume option… maybe a building-top king kong holding a damsel… THAT could be funny! [Ah well, next year!] And how cute would it be to paint a scene in a party theme for someone’s birthday?! Too fun! Maybe a fairy for a little girl? A knight for a boy? A exaggeratedly-old little old couple for someone’s 40th birthday? Wheeeeeeee!

So, what silly options would you love to see in one of these photo op boards? I’d love to know your ideas! Do tell!