One of the highlights of the seasonal decorations that will adorn Josiah White Park in Jim Thorpe for the upcoming Fall Foliage Weekends is the product of a family project by an area elementary school student.

The result of that project was a large pumpkin weighing almost 300 pounds, which now rests just inside the entrance to the park from the busy intersection.The large orange gourd was grown by 11-year-old Destiny Green from Towamensing Township, who grew her pumpkin with the help of her Uncle Bill Remaley of Lehighton at Nev and Nise Produce, a 25-acre farming operation located in Mahoning Valley.Destiny, a sixth-grade student at Towamensing Elementary School, received her pumpkin seeds last school year from Maynard Serfass of Lehighton, who had displayed a 650-plus pound pumpkin outside the school as part of a weight-guessing contest.She and her fellow students received four seeds each from that huge pumpkin.In addition to having her pumpkin displayed during the Fall Foliage Weekends, Destiny also received a prize of $50 courtesy of Nev and Nise Produce.The Fall Foliage Weekends are a Jim Thorpe Chamber of Commerce function coordinated by members Dan Hugos, Bob Gaudreau and Mike Guy.For several years now Deb Taylor of Homespun and her helpers have volunteered to help the chamber bring together the plants and decorations needed, and set them up throughout the Josiah White Park area of downtown Jim Thorpe."This year's festival is going to be as big, if not bigger and better than previous years," said Guy, owner of Rainbow's End."The leaves are starting to change already. This is the first weekend so we anticipate a good turnout, weather permitting."The festival, which runs on three consecutive weekends of Oct. 6-7, 13-14, and 20-21, will have food, and arts and crafts vendors.There will also be free music events at four different venues throughout the downtown area, as well as ticketed shows at the Mauch Chunk Opera House.In addition, shops and restaurants will be open and some days will see excursion trains coming to town.