Twas a ghoulish and spooky day at the offices of KJA last Friday! Well, more like an exciting day as we held our first ever Carve-A-Lantern contest. Delicious food, great people, and lots of laughs made it fun for everyone.

So, what exactly is a Carve-A-Lantern contest? It’s a competition to see who can carve the most creative pumpkin. Making it all the more fun was inviting employees from other businesses in the building to put their own creative skills to the test. It was also a good opportunity to relax and make some new friends. “We all work in the same building, but rarely have the chance to visit amongst each other and this was the perfect time to do just that,” said KJA Director of Operations Karen Ammerman. She and KJA’s Creative Director David Crain spear-headed the event and were very pleased with its success. So much so, that plans are already being considered for a similar type of event in December.  “More than once, I heard people saying ‘Wow, this is great!’ and I knew we were on to something really good,” said David.

Overall, 15 pumpkins were carved and decorated with a wide variety of themes like scarecrows and witches, Cinderella’s stagecoach, the healthy veggie pumpkin, a fleur de lis delight, even the more gory characterizations of an axe to the head and a puking pumpkin. There were two pumpkins with a different twist:  one that paid homage to the lives of famous Hispanic artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and the other creation which recognized one of central Louisiana’s newest and most talented collage artists, Veretta Garrison-Moller.

Three outside judges were present to decide the top 4 winners which included prettiest, scariest, most detailed and greenest.

Click here see more Carve-A-Lantern photos on Flickr.

Prettiest: Shauna Crist, Noles-Frye Realty

Most Detailed: Sha'nah Morrison, KJA Communications Group

Scariest: Susan Sanders, FOX 48

Greenest: Aleece Way, KJA Communications Group