Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Expert Carver Takes on 300-Pound Jumbo Pumpkin at InterContinental

By Jackie Kostek | October 16, 2013 10:52am
Steve Bahlke — Expert Pumpkin Carver
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Jackie Kostek

DOWNTOWN— For Steve Dahlke, carving the pumpkin is not the difficult part. It's getting the pumpkin from the trailer attached to his Chevy truck to wherever he's going to carve it.

On Monday, Dahlke commissioned four able-bodied men to hoist the pumpkin and carry it to his stage, positioned inside a small gated area just outside the InterContinental hotel downtown.

"Some places have forklifts," said Dahlke, 43.

Dahlke, a Rosemont resident, spends most of the fall season carving jumbo pumpkins for audiences. This Friday and next Friday (Oct. 18 and Oct. 25), he'll grace a stage at Navy Pier to take on 500-pound pumpkins, and next week at the Brookfield Zoo, he'll up the ante again with a 1,300-pounder.

"It's the size of the pumpkin that the people see," said Dahkle, who taught himself how to carve with a book "How to Carve Jack-o-Lanterns."

Click on the video to watch Dahlke in action.