About Ty's Pumpkin Walk
Tyler, the carver, used to carve real pumpkins with his mom, Cathy, in his teens because his Aunt showed him a site that had tons of awesome stencils. After a few years of that he gave up on it, he was tired of the pumpkins rotting after a hour or two of work. In 2019 he discovered foam pumpkins, you can use a hot knife to carve right through it, so he carved about 6.
Year 1
2020
2020 - We have the creation of the pumpkin walk. The pandemic had Ty, an actor, out of work. He remember about the foam pumpkins and put them back out in front of the house when October rolled around. He decided to head out and buy a few more. Then he decided to buy more, and more, and more. He ended up carving around 170 pumpkins in 2020. He gained media attention from multiple new outlets and over 1000 people walked through the front yard to see the display! He knew that it had to happen again in 2021.
Year 2
2021
Ty remembers that people wanted to donate money in 2020. He decided to turn the walk into a fundraiser for Mahoning County Special Olympics. While he was working his actor jobs he somehow carved another 200 or so pumpkins between the end of August and the week of Halloween. It was a major success! Over 1,500 people came through, and we raise over $2000 for Mahoning County Special Olympics!
Year 3
2022
Ty brought the pumpkin count to 552 pumpkins with a few BIG surprises! The display ran from October 7th-31st. The display brought in 3,600 people and raised $6526.95 for Mahoning County Special Olympics.
Year 4
2023
Ty has carved the pumpkin display up to 750 pumpkins, completely outgrowing the family home space. The run was set October 13-31. there were two previews on the 11th and 12th for neighbors, and the organization that received the donation. The display attracted overwhelming support and had 500-1000+ people a night. One night there was 1000 people in less than a hour. Added all together we had around 15,000 people come through the display. This year the Hanes family decided to spread the love and give the donations to The Squeaky Wheel Theatre Company's Special Needs Program. The walk raised $11,899.04 and a check was presented, on December 15th at the opening of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."
