J.R. Hildebrandt prepares for his eight-day trip down the Wisconsin River to raise money for children.Posted on 10/11/2008 4:08:50 PM PDT by BGHater
While most families place a candle or light bulb in their carved-out pumpkins, J.R. Hildebrandt can fit a chair and small heater in his.
The Wisconsin resident has carved a canoe out of a pumpkin and is taking the 760-pound gourd to the water where he plans to paddle 150 miles for charity.
Hildebrandt will row his orange veggie down the Wisconsin River to raise money for Tri City Children’s Dream Foundation, a group that gives special-needs children memorable trips.
"We've sent children to Disney Land, or Disney World. We've sent them to NASCAR races, we've even sent one little girl to Jamaica on a cruise, and I wanted to take it a step further," Hildebrandt said.
John Flodstrom is helping tow the giant pumpkin to various spots along the route. He applauds Hildebrandt for his creative way to help kids.
"I thought he was crazy. I'll tell you that, but I give him a lot of credit for what he's doing, and that's, I'm glad he's in a pumpkin and not me," Flodstrom said.
Hildebrandt will finish his eight-day trek at the Delta Motel in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin on October 13.
J.R. Hildebrandt prepares for his eight-day trip down the Wisconsin River to raise money for children.
He has won Wisconsin's Nekoosa Great Pumpkin Race for the past years, taking around 10 minutes to paddle the 300 yard course.
I guess if you can do 300 yards, why not 150 Miles...
Thanks for the Charity work Mr. Hildebrandt.
It industrious folks like him that make me miss wisconsin.... Then I remember how cold the winters are and do miss it too much :)
Ahem.
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
Yes, we've all heard those stories about Miss Wisconsin...
I don’t get charity stunts. Why would I want to pay someone to ride a pumpkin? If he wants my money, he can ask for it.
Yeah, you gotta be out of your gourd...
Paddling pumpkins in public is illegal in most states
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