Sculptor carves pumpkins for sea turtles at Fernandina event

Bronze sculptor Jennifer Cook will trade her usual medium, bronze, for gourds Friday, Oct. 30, when Mocama Beer Company hosts Pumpkin Palooza at its Fernandina Beach taproom.

The event runs from 3 to 9 p.m. at 629 South 8th St. Attendees can bring a pumpkin between 3 and 6 p.m. and have it carved with an animal design in exchange for a small donation, according to Keep Nassau Beautiful. Proceeds support sea turtle education.

Donations collected at Pumpkin Palooza will fund a project called The Last Castle, in which professional sand carvers will build an elaborate sand castle to announce the 2027 sea turtle nesting season, according to Keep Nassau Beautiful. The effort compels visitors and residents to keep the beach clean, flat and dark for nesting turtles.

Pumpkin carving experience

Cook has also carved giant pumpkins as part of a team at the Bronx Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo events, she wrote in a 2025 Society of Animal Artists publication.

Cook is an Amelia Island resident who works from a Yulee studio, according to her gallery biography. A University of the Arts graduate and signature member of the Society of Animal Artists, she sculpted prototypes for the toy and giftware industries before concentrating on wildlife sculpture in bronze. Her work often depicts reptiles, especially snakes, according to her website.

Fernandina Halloween Festivities

Beyond carving, the evening includes face painting, composting demonstrations, a donation-based drawing for decorated pumpkins, food and beverages, and trick-or-treating starting at 3 p.m. Diane Blanton of Ghost and History Tours of Fernandina will tell ghost stories from 5 to 6 p.m. A youth costume contest judged by Kristen and Crystal of Tows and Tails Sanctuary begins at 6 p.m., followed by an adult costume contest at 7 p.m. Organizers list live music from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., extending beyond the advertised 9 p.m. event end time.

Partners include Keep Nassau Beautiful, STAND, Tows and Tails Sanctuary and UF/IFAS Extension Nassau County. Keep Nassau Beautiful is collecting clean pumpkins for animals at Goats on the Go and OtterSpace Wildlife through a volunteer recycling effort.

Upcoming community events