by Kirby Lindsay, posted 16 September 2013
Fremont hosts an impressive number of events each year. That number is more impressive, I think, when you consider that the majority of our events are locally produced, directed and staffed.
Fremont Oktoberfest, coming Sep 20th – 22nd, remains one of the largest – produced locally (Bold Hat Productions) to fund a local cause (the Fremont Chamber of Commerce.) And, of course, the most creative, longest running activity of Oktoberfest weekend first began here and continues as uniquely Fremont. This is the Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving, sending its spray on audiences at 1p on Sep 21st & 22nd.
Ian Stone, a regular Carving ‘contestant’ and Fremont resident, has taken the show on the road – and he thinks it really only works here. In Renton, he reported, “people got weirded out by it!”
Since 2000, this pageant of pumpkin pulp has delighted crowds at Fremont Oktoberfest – and since 2008, it has been produced and led by David Roman, hand-picked to take over management of the splatter crusted banner by Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving Founder Jon Hegeman.
Roman has also noticed the mistaken impressions brought by the unitiated. “People expect either that we’re going to pulverize the pumpkins,” he said, “or that we will spend the whole day in flannel and jeans,” to create complex, intricate sculptures – and they do, just not in flannel and jeans, and in minutes not hours.
‘A Zoological Experiment’
Stone (known as ‘Ian, The Reasonably Alright’) has carved for six years, and this year he will attempt ‘The Reconstructed Pumpkin.’ He and Roman swear this has ‘never before been attempted,’ and they really won’t say if it can be done. It will bring Stone full circle – in his first year carving, ‘The Reasonably Alright’ attempted ‘The Deconstructed Pumpkin.’ He described that effort as much easier, one he nearly managed, although, he also said, “it was bad from concept to completion.”
“The show is clearly planned out in advance,” Stone remarked drily. “It’s a zoological experiment,” Roman observed. While Roman invites the performers, and knows the characters they will play, each one has their own plan in place – with the audiences picking the winner.
This year, Roman will not carve his own squash in the beer garden after the contest. “I’m going to have to get my pumpkin jollies in somehow,” he acknowledged. One thought is that he might issue a challenge and carve-off to the winner of the Carving, if one performer shines out clearly over the others.
The only thing Roman and the other performers do agree upon each year is providing a family-friendly show. “That really is what this event is for,” Roman observed.
“We can’t pull a dead rabbit out of the pumpkin,” Stone explained about rejected ideas. They want to create a show pleasing to their audience, and kids fill the first few rows – often giving the most honest and largest reactions to the art.
And this is art. “It gets the audience thinking about what art can be,” Roman said, “Art is all over the place.” The Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving encourages, he said, “Fremont’s idea that art can be whatever you put into your life. This is a unique way to show that, even with a chainsaw, you can put art into the world.”
“It’s a Dada moment,” Stone agreed, “it steps beyond reason.”
The Pull Of The Center of the Universe
These two performers, and friends, share another experience beyond the reason of some, but common enough in Fremont. Over the last year they found themselves subject to the ‘pull’ of the Center of the Universe. As Stone observed, “it’s really easy to get into Fremont, and it’s really hard to get out.”
He and his wife, Shana Stone, had been renting a house on the south side of the Fremont Bridge. After years living in a structurally and aesthetically bad – but cheap – place, Stone explained, “I knew I needed to move out, and I waited until I found something.” Within a few weeks, he saw the ‘For Rent’ sign he’d been waiting for – for the place next door. Also, the couple found, they could afford to rent both places during the transition. Now, they still know their neighbors, still have BBQs with their friends, but they can now invite the new tenants of their old home.
Roman had an almost identical, but more traumatic, move. “I had been living in my apartment for 14 years,” he explained. Last year, he completed his degree at the University of Washington, started working, and decided, “I wanted to have an adult apartment.” When he got booked on an extended business trip, his landlord agreed to upgrade and remodel the apartment. When he came back, Roman discovered low-quality paint and fixtures installed. He disliked everything about it, particularly, he said, “it no longer felt like my place.”
Like Stone, Roman knew the trick to finding an affordable rental in Fremont –spot the hand-lettered lawn sign planted out front and act on it. Within days of giving up on negotiations with his landlord about fixing the remodel, Roman spotted a sign. “I went up to talk to the owner,” he said, and moved in one week later. With his new place, “I moved four houses closer to Oktoberfest,” he explained, now being within sight of the festival.
Life Anywhere Else?
“I don’t really ever want to drive,” Stone said, when asked why he chose Fremont. Originally from Whidbey Island, he has lived on Capitol Hill and in Ballard, but he sees no reason to move to another neighborhood again. If he were to leave the Center of the Universe, he said, “it would probably have to be to move to a different city, and I’d have to be offered a lot of money.”
As for Roman, “I know every single morning and every single evening I can walk out of my apartment and find a smile and someone to talk to, no matter what the weather.”
“I just don’t see the benefit,” Stone summed up, “to living anywhere else.”
The Art Of Pumpkin Pulp
Instead, they’ve chosen to work and live in Fremont – even with its increasing density, colorful characters and events that often overflow into the lives of our residents.
“Solstice is my favorite,” Roman said, “Even if there was no other festival of the year, this would still be the best place in the City – with mounds of cherries on top!”
As for ‘Ian, The Reasonably Alright,’ his favorite Fremont event remains Oktoberfest, “for purely selfish reasons.” He enjoys performing, and showing off his chainsaw carving skills for Fremonsters, and visitors, each year.
To see both men perform, and compete, attend the Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving on Saturday, September 21st or Sunday, September 22nd, at 1p at N 35th Street near Phinney Ave N. And remember, Fremont Oktoberfest has many other offerings to entice, beyond creating art from pumpkin pulp, of course!
Related Articles
- The Pull At Our Center
- by Kirby Lindsay, October 6, 2004 for the North Seattle Herald-Outlook
- Pumpkin Pulp, Made By Chainsaw
- by Kirby Lindsay, September 19, 2011
©2013 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.