GREAT FALLS, Mont. — For more than 20 years, a Great Falls-based agricultural equipment company has been giving every first grader in the Great Falls District and the surrounding area a free pumpkin.
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The tradition at Torgerson's Equipment has grown into a massive annual effort that now reaches thousands of students.
"We've delivered over 45,000 pumpkins over 20 years," said Craig Widhalm, the Great Falls branch office manager at Torgerson's Equipment.
The tradition started when an employee delivered about seven pumpkins to a grandchild's school.
Today, it reaches far beyond Great Falls.
The gourds are distributed in Helena and other Torgerson territories, including Glasgow, Etheridge and Lewistown.
At Sacajawea Elementary, first graders Braylee and Charlee proudly posed with their portly pumpkins and shared their favorite parts of the process.
"That we get to carve them," Braylee said.
"That this pumpkin is really heavy," Charlee said.
The pumpkins will become Halloween decor, but they are also helping to teach an important lesson in agriculture.
"A lot of times kids don't understand where the pumpkins are coming from. They think it's Walmart or Albertsons or, you know, the store. So we really want to bring the agricultural side of it to the classroom," Widhalm said.
The pumpkins are purchased from nearby Hutterite colonies, and they're helping dispel common myths among kids.
"A lot of kids think that they're vegetables. And when you ask them that, they're super excited about answering it. And then when they find out it's a fruit, they're like, 'Wait, what?' And then you explain it, and they're like, 'Oh, OK,'" Widhalm said.
For Widhalm and his fellow pumpkin distributors, the reaction is one of the highlights of the job.
"Seeing them excited makes it worth it. Some kids, this might be their first pumpkin that they get to carve," Widhalm said.
"They always want the biggest one, and it's usually the smallest kid that gets the biggest one," Widhalm said.
"It's fun to see the smile on their face," Widhalm said.
