Light the Night Pumpkin Hike at Caesar Ford Park in Xenia canceled due to growing coronavirus concerns

Hobson Freedom Park was filled with the flickering glow of 2,000 pumpkins for the annual Greene County Pumpkin Glow over the weekend on Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26. The family-friendly event included pumpkins carved to feature funny faces, cute animals and scary creatures, as well as a blacklight area for glow-in-the-dark fun. DAVID MOODIE / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Hobson Freedom Park was filled with the flickering glow of 2,000 pumpkins for the annual Greene County Pumpkin Glow over the weekend on Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26. The family-friendly event included pumpkins carved to feature funny faces, cute animals and scary creatures, as well as a blacklight area for glow-in-the-dark fun. DAVID MOODIE / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
What to Do
By Ashley Moor
Updated Oct 22, 2020
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UPDATE (Oct. 22): The Greene County Parks & Trails district has announced that this event has been canceled due to the Level 3 COVID alert in Greene County.

In a post on their Facebook page on Wednesday, Oct. 21, the Greene County Parks & Trails district stated that other upcoming events would also be canceled due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus in the county.

“Due to recent changes in the COVID status of Greene County, it is with a heavy heart that we are announcing we will be postponing our upcoming in-person events,” said park officials in a Facebook post. “This will include Light the Night Pumpkin Hike (will be back in 2021) and Wellness Walkers (will resume the schedule once our alert level lowers). We know, we are just as sad as you with this news, but we are doing our best to continue to keep our community safe during these unprecedented times.”

ORIGINAL REPORT

Caesar Ford Park in Xenia has altered its annual Pumpkin Glow event to enable more socially-distanced fun to be had — thus, the Light the Night Pumpkin Hike was born.

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On Wednesday, Oct. 28 through Saturday, Oct. 31 from 7-10 p.m., the trails at Caesar Ford Park will be glowing with 1,000 black light-reflective pumpkins. Each registered group will be given a blacklight flashlight with which to find their way along the trails to discover the decorated pumpkins that are located throughout the trail system.

To comply with coronavirus-related guidelines, groups along the trail system will be staggered and flashlights will be sanitized after each use.

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Though registration is required for the event, walk-ins are welcome as well. The event is free and guests can register for the Light the Night Pumpkin Hike by visiting the Greene County Parks & Trails' website.

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About the Author

Ashley Moor is a Dayton native and graduate of Kent State University. She is a multimedia journalist for Dayton.com, and strives to provide impactful stories about the community and its people.