Attention Countdowner Oddballs: 2008 Chagrin Falls Pumpkin Roll FINALLY comes off!

[Berry Cool]

And there's a casualty...

From WKYC-TV in Cleveland...

CHAGRIN FALLS -- It was a short but exuberant pumpkin roll in more ways than one that started late Thursday night and ended with one unconscious 47-year-old man being taken to Hillcrest Hospital, then flown via LifeFlight to MetroHealth Medical Center, where he remains in serious condition Friday morning with a head injury.

Although one boy was arrested near the end of the roll for disorderly conduct, word comes from the Chagrin police and fire departments that the man, Solon resident Robert "Rusty" Bowen who has offices on River Street here and is a Chagrin Valley Jaycee, was badly injured...

Bowen was standing by the WPA wall near Cottage Street with his back to the top of the hill when someone on a sled struck his legs, knocking them out from under him and causing him to fall backwards, striking his head on the concrete, Fire Chief Frank Zugan and police Capt. Bob Cockrell confirmed this morning...

Just after 11 p.m. Thursday, police set up barricades at the bottom of Main Street's Grove Hill, just north of downtown. That was to keep unsuspecting, non-roll-related drivers from driving up the hill.

Teens had just begun piling pilfered pumpkins by the side of the road on East Summit Street, at the top of the hill. As each SUV arrived at the top, police took down the license plate and told each driver they would be ticketed for putting debris on the roadway.

Just after 11:30 p.m., the first pumpkins were smashed onto the roadway, moments later, the teens began sliding down the resulting goo.

As midnight passed and Halloween arrived, about 150 teens were sliding down the hill but the smashed pumpkins never made it farther than East and West Cottage streets, located halfway down the hill. It was an uncharacteristically short "runway" for sliding.

About 60 spectators -- mostly parents with cameras -- lined the side of the hill to watch. One pumpkin -- with "Take Me To The Pumpkin Roll Please" written on it -- somehow rolled unsmashed almost all the way down the hill...

The annual pumpkin roll, now in its 41st year since the Chagrin Falls High School Class of 1969 rolled pumpkins down the hill in 1967, is when CFHS juniors and seniors roll and smash stolen pumpkins down Main Street's Grove Hill, then grab sleds and/or recycling containers and slide down the goo...

Please note this year, Keith, that "Chagrin" is pronounced exactly how it looks. Nothing tricky about it. Unfortunately, there was really something to be chagrined about this year. Let's hope this guy turns out to be OK.

Ta-ta for now. It's a gorgeous night in Cleveland, and I'm going to go out with a pumpkin candle and read on my deck until Countdown comes on. Happy Halloween.