To paraphrase folk singer-songwriter Pete Seeger, where have all the pumpkins gone?

Many, unfortunately, will have come to a tragic Humpty Dumpty end by the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 31, victims of the West Virginia University College of Engineering and Mineral Resources16th annual Pumpkin Drop.

Young ghouls and goblins will fling the fruit from atop the Engineering Sciences Building at a target 11 floors below beginning at 11 a.m. that day. The gourd hurlers will drop the pumpkins off the roof in containers designed to protect them as they free fall.

“The Pumpkin Drop is a tongue-in-cheek engineering challenge, the objective being to design and construct a package to protect a pumpkin as it sails 11 floors to the ground,”said Don Lyons, a mechanical and aerospace engineering professor who coordinates the event.”It is a fun way to get young people interested in engineering.”

The team whose pumpkin lands closest to the target without going splat wins, Lyons said. There are cash prizes for the top three winners and a fourth award for originality of design.

The rules are simple: Pumpkins must be at least 10 inches in diameter, weigh no more than 60 pounds (protective structure included) and be free-falling (no bungee cords). The insides of the pumpkins may not be altered, and no Styrofoam peanuts or other small, non-biodegradable fillers are allowed. Engineering faculty, staff and students judge the event.

Besides being a fun engineering event, the Pumpkin Drop is a fund-raiser for the WVU Student Chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the competitions sponsor. There is a $10 entry fee, and proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald House. Last year, the event raised $1,000 for the facility, which provides lodging for families of hospitalized children.

This year’s competition”falls”the day before WVU ’s Homecoming football game against the University of Central Florida, and employees of the college will drop a pumpkin package resembling a Golden Knight, the opposing school’s mascot.

The Pumpkin Drop evolved from a project in which WVU engineering students designed containers to protect falling eggs. It has grown over the years into such a popular autumnal event for participants and spectators alike that organizers have had to limit participation to the first 150 preregistered teams.

In conjunction with the WVU event, the sixth annual Capital City Pumpkin Drop will be noon Thursday, Oct. 23, in Charleston. That competition is open to Charleston-area students from kindergarten through the 12th grade. The Education Alliance and Bayer CropScience sponsor the Charleston event, and WVU engineering faculty and staff serve as judges.

For more information about the Morgantown Pumpkin Drop, call 304-293-3111, ext. 2362, or visit the Web site at http://www.mae.cemr.wvu.edu/news/news-details.php?item=321 . For more information about the Capital City Pumpkin Drop, call Michele Scott with The Education Alliance at 304-342-7850.