DAMARISCOTTA, Maine — Giant pumpkins bring smiles, sometimes laughs, and sometimes surprised shakes of the head.
At the annual Damariscotta Pumpkinfest and Regatta, giant pumpkins bring thousands—likely tens of thousands—of tourists to town over the October holiday weekend, to view the thousand pound pumpkins transformed into art, and even boats.
This year, however, those pumpkins could also help to train people to save lives.
The Pumpkinfest has created the Paris Pierpont Scholarship Fund, to be used to pay for training for those who want to become EMTs and paramedics, to work in emergency medicine.
That was the dream of 17-year-old Paris Pierpont, whose family has been a leading grower of giant pumpkins for a number of years.
Edwin Pierpont has set and broken a number of pumpkin records. In 2021, he set the current state giant pumpkin record, with a behemoth weighing 2,122 pounds, the first time a Maine pumpkin has weighed in at more than a ton.
Paris and her brother Justice have also grown prize winners themselves.
“Much as they hated it and complained,” their mother Bobbie said about all the care needed to grow the big pumpkins, “When it came weigh-off time, there was a sense of pride, 'I grew that,' because they were bringing in numbers bigger than some of the adult growers.”
But last October, less than a week after Edwin set the new state record, an unthinkable tragedy struck.
Paris, just 17 years old, lost her life in a car accident. Her death devastated the close family, but also reached far beyond, deeply affecting the Pumpkinfest community and the larger one across Lincoln County.
That was evident in downtown Damariscotta, where Edwin’s record pumpkin was on display on a closed-off side street. The day after the tragic accident, a memorial of flowers and sorrowful messages in chalk filled the street, and stayed there for close to a week.
"She was amazing,” Bobbie Pierpont said of her daughter.
“She was to the point, a hard worker. She was determined, had a lot of grace and passion in her for whatever it was she was doing. She was there for you no matter what. She was dedicated to anyone she ever met. She was a best friend.”
Paris also had a dream, her mother said.
She wanted to become an EMT, to work on ambulances, as preparation for becoming a nurse. That became her goal, Bobbie explained, after Paris met a nurse during an ankle operation—the result of a sports injury.
“There was one particular nurse who made her feel so good and comforted—that made her realize she wanted to be that person for someone else.”
To help others realize their dream, Pumpkinfest started a scholarship fund.
The Paris Pierpont Scholarship will pay for a limited number of people to train as EMTs and even get paramedic training.
The scholarship has just been introduced, and Fest co-founder and board member Bill Clark said they are trying to spread the word around Maine so more people will apply.
The scholarships were initially targeted at Lincoln County, but eligibility has since been expanded.
All of it, Clark said, is dedicated to the memory of Paris Pierpont, who had already taken and passed the basic EMT course before she lost her life.
“She was hell-bent she was going to be an EMT and a nurse, and I am hell-bent we are going to make this happen, and try to make it continue as long as we can and do it right. And if we don’t get enough applicants we will just keep pushing until we do.”
There are four scholarships being offered this year, Clark said. One for a high school student in Lincoln County, two for anyone seeking basic or intermediate EMT training, and one for someone to get the more intense and longer paramedic training.
The hope is that all those who train will seek emergency medical jobs in Maine.
Full details are available on the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest website.