Pumpkin-carving craftsmanship on display at Jack O' Lantern World in Lake Zurich
LAKE ZURICH, Ill. (CBS) -- Halloween is around the corner, and right now in Lake Zurich, thousands of carved pumpkins are on display in a walkthrough you won't see anywhere else.
As CBS 2's Marybel González reported, the theme for this year at Jack O' Lantern World is "around the world." The three-quarter-mile walk is filled with lit-up carved pumpkins paying tribute to some of the world's most famous sights.
"We have a 25-foot-tall pyramid. We have an over 25-foot-tall Eiffel Tower," said Peter Starykowicz. "We honor the Norse lands with a 40-foot-long Viking ship."
Starykowicz created the displays. He is an architect by trade.
"We have been planning and working on this for a year," he said. "Thousands and thousands and thousands of hours cannot describe the amount of work that's gone into this."
More than 50 artisans, designers, and carvers came together to create 20 displays of nearly 4,000 carved pumpkins – all of it taking about a year to come to life.
"This is not something that's made in a factory," Starykowicz said. "This is something that is made by hand."
Randy Craig, a junior high art teacher, is one of the artists who brought his skills from the classroom to this jack o' lantern spookfest.
"I've actually been showing my students my work all along as I've been working on it, which was a great experience," Craig said.
Even the presidents of the United States have their own jack o' lantern model exhibit – from Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt to Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
"I'm 85 years old, and I can remember so many starting with Roosevelt," said Jean Schmeidwent as she admired the presidential display.
The intricate details of some of the pumpkin carvings took as much as 30 hours to create. Even the little ones can enjoy some of the details.
González met two youngsters, Carson and Ellie Wicks, and asked them displays what made them go wild.
"The Eiffel Tower," replied Ellie. "It was a bunch of stacked up. I just like big pumpkins."
The walk-through will be open until Oct. 30 at Paulus Park, at 200 S. Rand Rd. in Lake Zurich. For ticket information, follow this link.
