STAFF REPORT

Cumberland Gap is the place to celebrate the fall season with a half-dozen events dotting the calendar throughout October, which has become known locally as Gaptober.

The Friday Night Movie Series will feature a different outdoor movie each week at Berkau Park. The lineup for the month is: Oct 7 – The Haunted Mansion, Oct. 14 – Hocus Pocus, Oct. 21 – Hocus Pocus 2, Oct. 28 – The Nightmare Before Christmas. All movies will start at 7 p.m. Everyone is invited to bring a chair or blanket. Movies will be shown in the pavilion near the convention center in the event of inclement weather.

The town of Cumberland Gap will also hold a few activities for Lincoln Memorial University’s 125th Homecoming celebration. Two of these events are the Homecoming Parade at 6 p.m. on Oct. 8, and Gather in the Gap, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 8. Businesses and residents of the town are invited to decorate in their best blue and gray. The LMU Arts in the Gap Art Gallery will display the work submitted by students, staff, faculty and alumni for the 2022 Homecoming Art Show throughout October. A reception will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 6 at the Arts in the Gap Building.

Oct. 13-16 the town will be filled with Airstream campers as the 2nd Annual Streamin’ the Gap event will take place with more than 20 campers lining Colwyn Avenue. On Saturday, Oct. 15, the Cans for a Cause contest will take place from 2-4 p.m. in which you can vote for your favorite decorated camper by placing canned goods in the receptacles located outside of each one. All donated canned goods will be donated to CCM of Middlesboro, Kentucky to help supply the food pantry.

On Oct. 22 from 4-6 p.m., The Guardians of the Gap are providing an opportunity to turn all that fall baking into cash. The annual Let Them Eat and Drink Pumpkin event is a pumpkin cooking competition where participants bring their best dish or drink that highlights pumpkin. For those interested in sampling the pumpkin dishes and drinks, the cost is $10 for a plate of samples of each entry. The $10 fee also provides you with a ticket to vote for your favorite entry. Tickets can be purchased through the Guardians’ Facebook page. Those interested in competing can pick up an entry form from Gap Creek Coffee House, Gertie’s Commissary, Whistle Stop Antiques and The Olde Mill Inn Bed and Breakfast.

Halloween weekend the town will host their annual Pumpkin Lights Celebration which is a pumpkin carving contest that is open to the public. Participants must bring their carved pumpkin to Festival Park on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. to be judged. The pumpkins must have a name and way to contact the participant brought with them to the park. The pumpkins will remain in Festival Park and be lit each evening leading up to Halloween.

Closing out our Gaptober of fun will be Trick or Treating in Cumberland Gap. Trick or treat is Oct. 31 downtown with many area businesses and homes handing out candy.

Guardians of the Gap is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization whose mission is to protect, promote, and preserve the town of Cumberland Gap. For more information, email guardiansofthegap@gmail.com