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The pumpkin vine stretches across the lawn of the Kissimmee Christian Church in the spirit of fall. PHOTO/CHRIS MILLER
“I don’t see how a pumpkin patch could be more sincere than this one,” as it was said in the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
A quick glance at the place where North Main and Brack streets meet in downtown Kissimmee, reveals just another church building. But out of a patch of St. Augustine grass, a scrawny vine pushes forth that has come to embody the lawn of the Kissimmee Christian Church with a pumpkin vine.
Prior to Hurricane Ian, an heirloom pumpkin was placed upon St. Augustine grass in the middle of the Kissimmee Christian Church’s grounds. Most would say it was unfortunate it rotted. Within the rot, pumpkin seeds made themselves right at home, which vined three ways on the lawn making a ‘Kissimmee Pumpkin Vine.’
"The groundskeepers came in one week and it was raining, they had to come back the following week,” said church Student Minister Lance Spencer. “They came back and there was a plant growing higher than the grass. So, I got permission from my bosses. ‘With this growing can I get them to not cut it,’ is what I had said. So now we have this pumpkin vine in our lawn.”
The Kissimmee Christian Church prepares for its Halloween pumpkin patch to open on Oct. 16 at a different location on the property. The patch will be taken to the 'Boo on Broadway' Halloween event on Oct. 28 for a photo booth. As for the ‘Kissimmee Pumpkin Vine’ Spencer says, “it will remain for photo opportunities for the folks of Kissimmee and surrounding areas.”
Much like the ‘Christmas Weed’ of Toledo, Ohio in 2018, the ‘Kissimmee Pumpkin Vine’ was just as unexpected. The community and residents are encouraged to take photos and water it as the church didn’t plan for it to keep the fall spirit going.
If you have any Kissimmee news or information that you would like to share, call Chris Miller at 419-345-6642 or email isthischrismiller@ gmail.com.
