CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office deputies will again staff a “Selfie With a Cop” booth during this year’s Circleville Pumpkin Show, inviting residents and visitors to stop, talk with deputies and snap a photo during the four-day festival.
The sheriff’s office announced the return of the program in a social media post, saying deputies will be out and about in downtown Circleville throughout the week and will share updates as the show goes on.
“We would love to chat with you for a bit,” the sheriff’s office said in its announcement. “And of course take a quick photo!”
This year’s event, the 119th Circleville Pumpkin Show, runs Oct. 21-24, with a Tuesday night preview on Oct. 20 that includes an opening ceremony and a “250 Years of Agriculture” parade, according to the festival’s organizers. The main show fills downtown Circleville from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day with parades, rides, contests, exhibits and traditional food.
Billed by organizers as “Ohio’s Oldest Festival,” the Pumpkin Show has run for more than a century and now draws more than 400,000 visitors over four days to a city of about 12,000 residents. Last year’s show crowned a 1,972-pound entry as its largest pumpkin, and vendors typically sell tens of thousands of pumpkin pies and pumpkin doughnuts during the event’s run.
The sheriff’s office, led by Sheriff Matthew Hafey, regularly assigns deputies to patrol the downtown crowds during the show. The selfie initiative gives attendees a chance to interact with deputies outside of a typical law enforcement encounter.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office.
