WARSAW — In 2009, the Warsaw chapter of Tri Kappa celebrated 100 years of service to the community. In this, its 107th year, they continue to carry on the tradition of service through the annual pumpkin project.

For 21 years Tri Kappa members have designed, hand painted, and decorated thousands of pumpkins to sell for this fundraiser. Each year Tri Kappa sells out of them. This year, the tradition continues. More than 1,000 hours will be spent over the next few weeks by Tri Kappa sisters in cleaning, preparing, painting, decorating and delivering almost 1,000 pumpkins purchased by community members. The profits from this annual project support local charity, culture and education.

As part of Tri Kappa’s support of local education, Tri Kappa has given away tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to local students. Other local charities and cultural activities also benefit from the money raised by Tri Kappa.

“Each year we are able to fund over $10,000 in local scholarships through our pumpkin profits and other fundraisers. Our pumpkin sale is our largest fundraiser and one that the community has really gotten behind in support of our mission. We are excited to launch this year’s designs!” says Jennifer Elliott, Tri Kappa Pumpkin Committee co-chair.

The annual pumpkin season for Tri Kappa started months ago with the artistic design for the pumpkins. Many hours then go into preparing the accessories used in the design, and in the weeks to come, the cleaning, prep work and painting will be done. Finally, Tri Kappa members will fan out across the county to deliver the pumpkins.

This year’s design includes a boy scarecrow, a sweet girl scarecrow with pigtails, and a limited edition “Honor Indiana” pumpkin to celebrate Indiana’s Bicentennial. Scarecrow pumpkins are $15 each. The Honor Indiana pumpkins are $20 each. All pumpkins ordered include free delivery. Orders are taken now until pumpkins sell out. Anyone interested can order directly online, ask a Tri Kappa member or contact Jennifer Elliott at jenjenelli@icloud.com.