Halloween pumpkins vandalized

PINE PLAINS — One of the things many people in the Pine Plains community look forward to at Halloween is the tradition on the bridge near Patchin’s Mill.

For more than two decades, the Bradley family has covered the bridge with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. They invite local families to their home in the week before Halloween to help carve jack-o’-lanterns. Last year was the first without matriarch Francis Patchin Bradley, but her son, John Bradley, was determined to carry on the tradition.

Earlier this week, after purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of pumpkins (a cost that comes out of his own pocket every year), Bradley returned home on Oct. 25 to find that many of his largest pumpkins had been smashed with a crowbar.

“I’m a little disgusted, to say the least,� Bradley said over the phone Monday evening. “It’s a thoughtless thing to do, and it doesn’t only hurt me, it hurts everybody in the town.�

Not all of the pumpkins have been destroyed, but the large ones, which Bradley said give the display part of its uniqueness, were rendered useless. He estimated the damage at around $200 worth of pumpkins. To make matters worse for Bradley, Monday was also his mother’s birthday.

Bradley is hoping that perhaps publicity of the vandalism might bring in some pumpkin donations so that the full pumpkin display can still light up Patchin’s Mill Bridge this weekend.

“We will have pumpkins on the bridge regardless,� he said resolutely. “It’s not going to stop the outcome. It’s definitely not going to stop the outcome.�

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