SEQUIM — Sequim teen Carson Holt plans to once again sell pumpkins for local causes, but this year he’s in new digs.
For his fifth year of “Pumpkins for a Cause,” 15-year-old Carson will set up shop at 10 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Old Olympic Highway and Knutsen Farm Road.
Drivers can see him in his red, white and blue stand that once was at Cameron’s Berry Farm.
Carson’s mom, Sauni, said Dave and Sidne Cameron are family friends and offered them the stand from the farm that closed last June after 40-plus years on Wheeler Road off Woodcock Road.
His whole family helped paint the stand that will hold 300-plus pumpkins ranging from $1 to $7 to benefit the Captain Joseph House in Port Angeles and the Dungeness Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.
Last year, “Pumpkins for a Cause” raised $1,200 split between the groups.
Carson, a member of the Civil Air Patrol, said funds will help them buy a marching flag and support trips to events.
This year, Carson has grown five varieties of pumpkins, including sugar and ornamental pumpkins. The idea to sell pumpkins grew from an effort to support his scouting endeavors and the Wounded Warriors program, he said.
“It doesn’t feel like five years,” Carson said. “It’s gone by so quickly.”
It’s become a tradition for many locals to buy pumpkins from Carson, his mom said, with some travelers even coming from as far away as Kitsap County.
Carson, a sophomore at Sequim High School, said he’s planning to go into the U.S. Army to join the military police, and later go to college before becoming a state trooper/Texas ranger.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
Carson Holt plans to sell pumpkins out of the former Cameron’s Berry Farm stand that was gifted to him. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
