Annual pumpkin glow gutted by coronavirus pandemic

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Each year a hill behind the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church has been covered in glowing, intricately carved pumpkins.

Judith Chaffin, known as the “The Pumpkin Lady,” began the Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow in Dayton’s Grafton Hill neighborhood in 1994 with just 36 pumpkins.

The event has grown since its humble beginnings.

Last year hundreds of volunteers carved more than 1,000 pumpkins for the event that drew large crowds to the hillside.

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Event organizers posted the event would return next year and requested the community share photos of their own carved jack-o-lanterns on the Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow page.