Marc Rogols to serve as new Pumpkin Show Chairman

The 2024 Pumpkin Show will include familiar traditions and new ideas, and a new organizational structure, too.

The Mayor of Circleville has always been the ceremonial President, and this year Mayor Michelle Blanton will continue that as her official title. With Barry Keller stepping down after many years of leadership, Marc Rogols is the new chairman and he will also be designated “President.”

Rogols has established an Executive Committee, which includes himself, Vice-President Andy Weller, Secretary Hugh Dresbach, Treasurer Valerie Goeller, and three Trustees, Marsha Waidelich, and Kim Wellman.

The Board of Trustees still functions, and they will now meet every two months. The Executive Board will meet in the other months.

“The Board of Trustees met once every three months, and it wasn’t enough,” said Rogols. “We couldn’t function. We couldn’t make decisions on the fly. Now, there will be a meeting every month, either the Trustees or the Executive Board, and we can stay on top of things. We’re moving things along much faster now.”

New this year will be the “Harvest Christian Welcome Center Tent,” located on the open lot on the southeast corner of North Pickaway and Watt Street — just to the south of JoyHouse Coffee.

The Community United Methodist Church is hosting the tent in conjunction with the many other local churches.

The tent will be free and open from Noon to 7 p.m, with a Christian music performance every day at 6 p.m. It will not be a babysitting service — the parents must stay — but there will be many fun activities for children, including games, arts & crafts, etc.

“We are sold out this year; we have no vacancies whatsoever,” said Rogols. “We will have 35 craft booths, 140 food vendors, 30 games, 110 retailers for a total of 315 vendors.” Rogols was also pleased to announce that there will be 33 nonprofit organizations, including seven charities (aka 501(c)3 nonprofits).

Rogols stated that the Pumpkin Show reimburses the City of Circleville for every expense the city incurs related to the Pumpkin Show, including police protection, EMS services, etc. And, they pay Rumpke for trash removal.

“We even pay for the paper and ink for the printing of the parking passes,” explained Rogols.

There will be a German television station, Spiegel TV, at the 2024 Pumpkin Show. They will be filming a documentary about Americans and what we enjoy doing for entertainment. With the movie, The Pumpkin Lady, and crews from Columbus TV stations also attending, expect to see video cameras everywhere.

Two months ago, Rogols commissioned an “economic impact study” for this year’s Pumpkin Show. The report will quantify the positive economic impact the event provides to Circleville and surrounding communities.

The “Greatest Free Show on Earth” does not have a turnstile count of attendees, which makes it difficult to determine crowd size. Rogols estimates that attendance this year will be about 100,000 — if the weather is nice.

“We couldn’t do it without the volunteers — over 300 people donate their time to the Pumpkin Show to make it happen,” said Rogols.