T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Barnesville Pumpkin Festival Giant Pumpkin Parade grand marshal and former Belmont County sheriff David Lucas says he is honored to be the 2025 grand marshal. The parade is at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday. It begins from Barnesville High School parking lot, travels west on Main Street and north on Chestnut Street to Euclid Avenue.

BARNESVILLE — It’s official — the 61st annual Pumpkin Festival kicked off Thursday evening.

The festivities began with Belmont County Tourism Executive Director Jackee Pugh cutting the ribbon surrounded by Pumpkin Festival Committee members and festival Queen Elle Keller, Princess Maggie Schnegg and Mini Miss Rose Jefferis.

Pugh said she was incredibly honored that the festival’s committee asked her to cut the ribbon marking the start of the event.

“It’s so exciting to get to kick off such a great event that really is an impactful one for Belmont County tourism,” she said. “It brings in people from all over the region. It has an economic impact right here in the county, and I’m so pleased to be here and helping kick off the festivities.”

She added that the festival is run completely by volunteers, which she believes is the perfect example of how much pride the residents have to work so hard to welcome people from all over the area to the festival.

“It’s no wonder why Barnesville was named one of Ohio Magazine’s Best Hometowns,” Pugh said.

In August, Ohio Magazine named Barnesville one of its 2025 Best Hometowns, recognizing the village among five other exceptional Ohio communities celebrated for their community spirit, quality of life, and unique character.

Pugh said the Pumpkin Festival brings people into not only Barnesville, but also Belmont County as a whole from all over the region.

“They come year after year. They come for the Barnesville Pumpkin Festival. But they also realize all the other great things that are here to offer,” she said. “Anytime you can have a community that can put together a really great showcase like this festival, it’s better for tourism. It’s better for economic impact and better for everyone.”

The “voice of the Pumpkin Festival” John Rataiczak added that the festival attracts over 100,000 attendees throughout the four days it operates. He said the reason the festival has continued to be a success for the past 61 years is due to a combination of the many volunteers working hard, and the reason that they volunteer is because they love the village of Barnesville so much.

“They love the Pumpkin Festival so much. It’s a tradition because they’ve grown up with the festival. Their parents have grown up with the festival, and they love to come to it even if they’ve moved away. They come back this weekend, and the whole town just really shows up for this,” Rataiczak said.

He said he believes Pugh was the obvious choice for this year’s ribbon cutter.

“She has done so much for Belmont County, first of all, but also for this festival and for the village,” Rataiczak said. “She was instrumental in having us nominated for one of the best small towns in Ohio. We got that through the tourism council.”

He added that Pugh does a lot of promotion for the Pumpkin Festival because it’s one of the biggest tourist attractions in Belmont County.

“She was a natural choice,” Rataiczak said.

After Pugh cut the ribbon marking the start of the festival, former Belmont County sheriff David Lucas was then honored. Lucas, who recently retired, will be the Giant Pumpkin Parade’s grand marshal.

The parade is at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday. It begins from Barnesville High School parking lot, travels west on Main Street and north on Chestnut Street to Euclid Avenue.

Rataiczak said that Lucas was chosen due to his 46 years of service to Belmont County.

Lucas retired on Jan. 5 but began his work in law enforcement in 1979 with the Barnesville Police Department. He then joined the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office in 1981 as a road deputy and climbed through the ranks until he was elected sheriff in 2013.

Lucas, who now splits his time living in Florida and Belmont County, said that he was overwhelmed when he received the news that he would be this year’s grand marshal.

“I started my career in 1979 at the Barnesville Police Department before I went over to the sheriff’s office. But my history and my life, it’s Barnesville,” Lucas said.

“This is a community, but it’s a family community. Everybody knows everybody, and it is just phenomenal. I mean, I’ve been to a lot of other places, and they don’t have what we have here. I mean, you can just see the crowd, especially the parade, everybody’s involved.”

He added that he is very honored to be selected, especially at the end of his career.

The festival runs now until Sunday and is free to enter.