Pumpkin On Clocktower
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[edit] History
On October 8, 1997, a giant pumpkin was seen impaled on the peak of Cornell’s 173-foot McGraw Tower. For a while, it remained a mystery as to how the pumpkin was placed on the tower. There have since been several reports on the alleged culprits behind the prank (See below).
[edit] Precautionary Measures
Seeing as it would be a costly and dangerous process to remove the pumpkin, it was left to rot and fall. On November 4, the area directly below the tower was taped off as a precautionary measure against the gourd's inevitable descent.
Jim Greiger, manager of occupational health and safety, said that the pumpkin would plummet at a rate of 72 miles-per-hour and could cause serious injury if fell intact.
[edit] Chimemaster Interviews the Prankster
In one account, chimesmaster Courtney Kimball ('01) interviewed the alleged prankster. The prankster, a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, admitted to putting the pumpkin on the Tower's steeple. Apparently, he had visited the tower for a midday concert with the hollowed out pumpkin in a box. Thinking he would need help with the climb, he came back the next day with an accomplice who had once been arrested for ice-climbing in the gorges. On the second night, the two used bolt cutters to clip the Master Lock that secured the bell cage. The prankster and his accomplice climbed up the bell cage, hauling the pumpking on a rope. The two men spent 20 minutes climing up the cage.
The interview reads, " Rob* climbed outside through the service hatch at the bottom of the roof on the West Side. He climbed to the top, roped in, and hauled on the rope attached to the pumpkin. Rob then pulled it to the top and placed it on the spire. The two men left the tower." [1]
[edit] The Daily Sun's take on the "Pumpkin Prankster"
In an e-mail to the editor of the Daily Sun, one of the housemates of the pranksters admitted to knowing the truth. Apparently, there were three people behind the prank, one Cornellian and two Ithacans. After seeing a similar prank pulled in his hometown, the ringleader sought out two climber accomplices at local outdoors-type stores.
All three culprits had attended the evening concert on the night of October 8. On their way out, they duck-taped the doors so that they would not lock. They came back at midnight with the pumpkin at hand. With only a pair of wire-cutters and a rope, the three had managed to sit the pumpkin on the tower's steeple. [2]
[edit] Articles of Interest
"The pumpkin atop the Cornell University clock tower." Everything 2.
Pumpkin Tale. Cornell University, Campus News.
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