Kristopher Farley knows the exact moment down to the second that his inflatable 30-foot pumpkin, which he calls The Great Tolland Pumpkin, began to deflate for good.
“On Wednesday, Oct. 8, it was at 3:45 p.m. and 40 seconds,” Farley said, of what he has termed the pumpkins explosion. .
Farley, who has previous experience with inflatable holiday decorations, suspects a hole near the stem was worn down by days and days in the sunshine.
The Great Tolland Pumpkin has been a staple in Tolland for the last four Octobers in Farley’s vast front yard at 675 Tolland Stage Road. The Great Tolland Pumpkin also has annually attracted hundreds of visitors from near and far each October. When Farley posted on his Facebook account that his giant pumpkin had deflated, the community sprang into action.
A GoFundMe account was set up; it raised $2,613 from a total of 86 donors as of Sunday afternoon to replace the pumpkin. The remaining money will go to the Tolland Animal Shelter, a cause that Farley raises money for each year.
The new 30-foot inflatable pumpkin is expected to arrive on approximately Oct. 20. This will be pumpkin No. 3.
Farley, a lifelong state resident, moved to Tolland in 2021.
“I got this house, and it had this massive front yard,” Farley said. “When I was younger, my parents didn’t do any of the decorating. I did all of the decorating. Now that I had my own house, I’m making it everyone’s problem now.”
Farley mulled over several ideas but eventually decided on a giant pumpkin.
“There is no instruction manual. You are on your own,” Farley said. “I first inflated it in the front yard and I used the 10 six-inch stakes.
However, he said, “It left my yard the first day it got windy. It went into the church parking lot and luckily the liquor store owners called me. I heard it break free and I was able to capture it.”
Later that night he bought four-foot hurricane auger stakes that tie down RVs in hurricane-prone areas. He put eight of those four feet into the ground around the pumpkin with heavy duty rope that can handle working pressures of 400 pounds.
“The pumpkin was never going to leave my yard again,” Farley said.
“What I didn’t know is that you are supposed to put sandbags underneath it,” he said. “This was pumpkin No. 1 in October 2021 I was deflating it for the end of the year and a gust of wind came in and shredded it.”
The Great Tolland Pumpkin in the front yard of Tolland resident Kristopher Farley. The 30-foot inflatable pumpkin has attracted hundreds each year, according to Farley.
Great Tolland Pumpkin No. 2 arrived for the next Halloween and was also fundraised by Tolland residents. Farley asked the manufacturers to use additional tiedowns on the top and the middle. Pumpkin No. 2 lasted until last week.
“Just last week when I turned it on, there wasn’t any wind out there. We had about a 20 mph breeze from the north, but it was blocked by my house,” Farley said. “It just spontaneously ripped apart, and I did an autopsy and there was some damage to the stem area where a hole began to open up which weakened the fabric. Years of UV damage deteriorated it. When it deflated it was one of the most heart wrenching moments of my life.”
Farley said he had great responses from the community in GoFundMe campaigns for both pumpkins.
He’s happy to give any excess to the Tolland Animal Shelter, where he has gotten two of his three cats. He accepts donations near the pumpkins with money going to the animal shelter. Over the years, Farley said he’s raised thousands for the shelter.
Farley said he’s hoping the pumpkin and the cause for the animals can bring everyone together.
“This is the most apolitical thing you can do. Everybody loves the pumpkin it doesn’t matter what side you are on – there’s so much division these days and this is something that is completely apolitical and everyone can enjoy,” Farley said. “On top of that, we donate to animals. Everyone can get behind that. Everyone loves animals.”
Farley said when his pumpkin was destroyed last week, he immediately ordered a new one when he posted the GoFundMe he didn’t expect the response he received.
“It’s incredibly humbling. It doesn’t compute to me how much this means to the town often because it is a labor of love – setting that pumpkin up and losing sleep,” Farley said. “I have a weather station set up inside my house right now to monitor wind, rain and weather events. I was incredibly humbled within a few hours raised enough money to completely replace the pumpkin.”
Farley said he expects the pumpkin to cost $1,100, with the $1,500 extra money going to the Tolland Animal Shelter.
Farley noted that Rockville Equipment in Tolland also contacted him to see if they could repair pumpkin No. 2 with an industrial sewing machine. Farley dropped the pumpkin off yesterday.
Farley said the pumpkin attracts constant flow of visitors of all ages and has set up parking signs in his driveway, so people park there rather than in the road.
“The pumpkin has become a symbol of Tolland,” Farley said. “This is something everyone can get behind. I’m always getting the honks from people. I get the interested onlookers. I have kids that want to touch it. It’s a fascinating thing to see and I think the town has fallen love with it. I have fallen in love with it as well. It’s been an awesome journey and I’m going to continue it as long as I can.”
Right now, there is a placeholder pumpkin in the place of The Great Tolland Pumpkin along with a 14-foot-tall animatronic Jack Skellington. Next month, the pumpkin will come down and a 40-foot inflatable Santa Claus will return to the yard after Thanksgiving.
The 40-foot Santa Claus last winter in Tolland. Like The Tolland Great it is displayed on the front yard of Kristopher Farley in Tolland.
“The pumpkin is nothing compared to Santa,” Farley said. “Any wind starts to mess with him. He will go up a week after Thanksgiving.”
Farley, originally from East Lyme, studied computer and electrical engineering at Central Connecticut State University. He is a systems engineer at Extreme Networks where he builds and designs network systems for companies. Farley is also a volunteer firefighter for the Tolland Fire Department.
