By Delainey Muscato
St. Bonaventure University
Olean native, Eric Jones, is a busy guy. Nonetheless, he found a few minutes to sit down with me and answer a few questions. Eric Jones is a well-known pumpkin carver who has done work with snow, sand, and wood. He has also drawn 250,000 caricatures. Jones was recently back in Olean carving a 2500 lb. pumpkin outside Worth W. Smith Hardware where he carved the Wounded Warrior logo into an almost Guinness World Record size pumpkin in celebration of Veteran’s Day. “It was great. Anytime you can use your skills to honor America’s fallen, it’s a humbling opportunity”, Jones said. A few weeks ago, just four minutes down the road from the hardware store, Jones taught a free pumpkin carving class at St. Bonaventure University. I happened to be at the class and was able to witness his skills in person. Jones remarked that he has loved working with St. Bonaventure in the past and would love to do more in the future, possibly teaching a snow sculpting class.
Speaking of snow, Jones said that after pumpkins, snow is his favorite thing to work with. A lifetime of Western New York winters prepared him for this feat. “It doesn’t bother me at all. I love the cold,” Jones said about sculpting with snow. “Snow is one of the most fun mediums to work with because you can mold it into whatever shape you like.” If you’re a Buffalo Bills fan, you might recall a huge snow sculpture of quarterback Josh Allen and wide receiver Stefon Diggs back in 2021. That was by Eric Jones and he has done some other pretty cool snow sculptures as well. The past few years Jones has been sculpting snow in downtown Ellicottville. He’s made a giant ski boot and a 9-foot-tall snowboarder so far and hopes to sculpt more this March.
While he loves snow, pumpkins are his material of choice. You might recognize him from Halloween Wars, the holiday competition show on Food Network. He was a finalist on Season 10. Jones was also recently crowned Grand Champion of Outrageous Pumpkins, another Food Network show on Discovery Plus. When I asked him about the difference between the experiences, Jones said, “I loved Halloween Wars. I had a great time there with my teammates. But there is something about pumpkin carving. When I can do it as a solo competition, I have a lot more confidence in my capability to win because I’m in control of the material and the carve”. Outrageous Pumpkins took about 12 days to film and Jones said he was carving pumpkins for two weeks straight, “I was like a little kid on Christmas morning”. He loved being able to freely create and carve hundreds of pumpkins. Even though he had a great time on Halloween Wars and loved his teammates, he felt there was a certain vulnerability working with unfamiliar partners. Jones said, “When you have teammates, you’re only as good as your teammates”.
When he’s not artfully chipping away at a pumpkin, which isn’t often, Jones enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, hiking, and traveling. I wondered if he and his kids ever carved pumpkins together. Jones said if his kids are carving, he usually just watches. They can get a bit intimidated by their dad’s professional skills, but he said they did some great carvings this year. Jones said while he does enjoy spending time with his family, he doesn’t have much free time to do so. “But really, I don’t spend a lot of down time doing anything. I work a lot”, Jones remarked. But he also mentioned how his job doesn’t feel like work, “I love what I do and there’s a lot of philanthropy involved”. Jones’ dedication and passion for what he does is evident in his work. It’s clear he puts a lot of time and effort into everything he does.
Jones’ last display for this year will be at the Santa Claus Lane Parade in Olean on November 25th. He will be the Grand Marshall leading the parade for the first time ever. He has something awesome planned. Stop by and check it out if you can!