LEAVE IT TO MOM.COM TO RAISE THE STAKES ON FUN AND EDUCATION

HIGHWOOD, IL (OCTOBER 17-22, 2010) – The City of Highwood is proud to announce Mom.com as the official presenting sponsor of the world record breaking Great Highwood Pumpkin Fest 2011, where plans call for 32,000 jack-o’-lanterns to light up the streets of Downtown Highwood on October 22nd at 5:30pm.  In order to help carve such an astronomical number of pumpkins the City put out a challenge to local schools – the school that has the most pumpkins carved on its behalf wins $10,000.

“We wanted to make it a win-win for every school,” explains 4th Ward Alderman, Eric Falberg, the mastermind behind Highwood Pumpkin Fest, and head of Highwood’s Special Events Committee.  “So for every pumpkin sold at $3, $1 is donated back to that school.”

Mom.com saw this as an exceptional opportunity to show their dedication to the community, and doubled the ante, donating an additional dollar for every pumpkin carved on behalf of those schools competing in the School Carving Competition.

“We are excited to be a part of Highwood’s Great Pumpkin Fest,” says Jenny Marsico, marketing director of Mom.com North Shore, that will official launch on October 17th.  “Not only is this a wonderful partnership, but Pumpkin Fest and mom.com have a like-minded focus on family.”

In addition to $10,000 to the first place winner, funded by money raised through raffle ticket sales, second place will receive $1,000 and $500 for third place.  The rules and process are simple:  A student, or any other person wishing to, comes to the School Pumpkin Carving Challenge Area located at Highwood City Hall, purchases pre-scoopedJ pumpkins, signs the official Guinness World Records log book, indicating the school they want to give credit to, and then enters the pumpkin patch to pick out their pumpkin to carve.  They bring their pumpkins to designated carving stations marked for each school, equipped with kid-safe tools, and carve away.  Once finished, they can place it on any pumpkin wall for the world to see and, after the record breaking event, they are welcome to come retrieve their pumpkin to bring home on Sunday the 23rd. Those not picked up will be composted. The School Carving Challenge will be open Oct. 17th-21st; Mon.-Tues. 3-8pm, Wed. 3-9pm, Thur. 1-9pm (early release day for NSSD112), and Friday 3-9pm.  Winners will be announced Saturday Oct. 22nd.

Like Highwood Pumpkin Fest, Mom.com is an organization dedicated to hardworking mothers and families who are trying to ensure a brighter, better future for their families and children.  Schools around the country have experienced setbacks by budget cuts and program cutting, especially in after school activities.  Mom.com sees the values of maintaining and expanding programs to ensure students have the best educational experience while taking advantage of extracurricular opportunities.  Mom.com hopes to see as many families as possible in attendance to show their support for their school system, while participating in a fun event that is looking to break a Guinness World Records. 

ABOUT MOM.COM

Mom.com is daily deal site designed for busy moms from the founders of CafeMom. The Mom.com mission is to support local economies by connecting local moms to local merchants with great daily deals. Mom.com started in Northern New Jersey and has since expanded to markets in the North Shore and Western Suburbs of Chicago, as well as suburban Boston and Minneapolis.

Mom.com offers fabulous deals every day on the things moms and their families like to buy, eat, and do locally. Mom.com can provide these great discounts thanks to the local and national merchants who believe that moms are the best kind of customers. Merchants want to earn new business, and moms want to save money and try new things in their communities.

For more information about the presenting sponsor Mom.com or to learn more about the Highwood Pumpkin Fest, please visit www.highwoodpumpkinfest.com.  Tel: 847.432.1924.