Haunting Lee Road

Pumpkins tranform the café into a family room.

Shawn Paul, known primarily for cutting and coloring hair, is really just a big kid. Last year, when he heard about the annual Phoenix Pumpkin Carving Party a few doors away from his salon at 2265 Lee Road, he begged owner Sarah Wilson-Jones to help him organize a candy crawl on the same day. 

This year a new tradition joins the old one. On Thursday, Oct. 25, from 4–8 p.m., favorite haunts on Lee Road will be offering not tricks, but free treats at the Cedar Lee Candy Crawl and ninth annual Phoenix Pumpkin Carving Party. Participating shops with treats will feature a pumpkin poster in their window, and want to see kids in costumes!

The Phoenix Pumpkin Carving Party, which started in 2004, turns the popular Lee Road Phoenix Coffee from a café into a family room. It is a tribute to Wilson-Jones's welcoming personality that she continues to smile as slimy pumpkin innards cover the tables. Likewise, parents are grateful that they can avoid the messy carving process at home.

Reservations to carve pumpkins, donated by Bremec on the Heights, are required and can be made by calling 216-932-8227. The $10 donation per pumpkin benefits Heights Arts, a nonprofit arts organization down the street at 2175 Lee Road. Pumpkins, candles, advice, cookies, cider and carving tools are provided.

Peggy Spaeth

Peggy Spaeth has been carving her annual pumpkin at Phoenix Coffee since 2004.

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Volume 5, Issue 10, Posted 1:25 PM, 10.03.2012