Charles Kuralt. Venetucci's annual pumpkin giveaways started two weeks before Halloween. Teachers from area schools arranged pumpkin-gathering field trips to the Venetucci farm, with between 30,000 and 50,000 children participating in a typical year. Venetucci was on hand for the festivities until his final years, aided in the task by 10 to 12 local volunteers each day. In 2002 there were no pumpkins on the Venetucci farm for the first time in 66 years, as drought conditions kept the 91-year-old Nick Venetucci from planting. "I can't control the weather," Venetucci lamented. "With the drought, there was no way I could grow pumpkins. The ground was so hard I couldn't get a plow in it. It was so hot, even if I had planted, the pumpkins would have burned up." In 2003, Venetucci and his wife Bambi contacted the Pikes Peak Community Foundation and arranged for the philanthropic group to take over the farm, leasing it to the organization for 99 years. The foundation began to plant the farm again, growing corn and pumpkins, and relaunching the area's beloved pumpkin giveaway. Efforts have been made to grant the Venetucci farm a special conservation easement to ensure the survival of the pumpkin giveaway into the future. Death and legacy Nick Venetucci died of a stroke on September 7, 2004. He was 93 years old at the time of his death. Venetucci is memorialized with a statue in Colorado Springs on the site of the local Pioneer Museum. The work is installed in a large flower bed in which pumpkin plants are grown each year. The $100,000 statue was funded by millions of pennies collected for the project by area schoolchildren. Venetucci is also the namesake of one of the Colorado Springs' elementary schools and is honored by the Bristol Brewing Company with its "Venetucci Pumpkin Ale." In 2006, the Pikes Peak Community Foundation began hosting the annual "Great Venetucci Pumpkin Festival and 5K Run" on the site of the Venetucci farm. In 2018 the Pikes Peak Community foundation partnered with Pikes Peak region environmental education provider Catamount Institute to continue Nick's legacy. The Catamount Institute provides hands on outdoor education as part of the school children's visit to the farm. There is a Venetucci Boulevard located on the south side of Colorado Springs by the World Arena. Footnotes External links Venetucci Farm official website. "Carving the Pumpkin Man: Statue of Nick Venetucci