"We see the big sunflower, but we don't realize the three months it's spent underground," Moonie said. "You have to grow."
Alongside his home community in Rutland — which he says also has to be involved "from the ground level" — Moonie has been growing. So much so that the 4-H Educator, Rutland Pride Center founding member, The Mad Rose bartender and international balloon installation artist has become, one could say, the big sunflower: he was chosen as this year's "Mystery Jack O'Lantern" for the Rutland Halloween Parade on Oct. 24.
The parade began in 1960, and it's one of the oldest in the United States — it's even been featured in Marvel, DC, and Archie comics. And almost every year since the Rutland Halloween Parade's inception, local residents have chosen a Mystery Jack O'Lantern. This great honor is bestowed on someone who has a significant, positive impact on the community and who showcases leadership, inclusivity and creating a welcoming environment.
The nonprofit Come Alive Outside receives, assesses, and scores the different nominations for Mystery Jack O'Lantern. The scores are based on a set of criteria, including nominee's history and relationship with youth development. Of the sixty-nine nominations that came in this year, Come Alive Outside Executive Director Arwen Turner said Moonie scored far higher than anyone else.
"The judges all unanimously agreed that he would be the perfect Mystery Jack O'Lantern," she said. "All the different aspects of his life are just so grounded in love, and connection, and making people feel welcome, and just this whimsical nature that right now, we really need."
It was Turner's job to write a poem that provided hints about the Mystery Jack O'Lantern, the identity of whom local kids and adults could guess up until the end of the night before the Halloween Rutland Parade. Clues included:
This pumpkin's name brings thoughts of the night,
A bright orbiting soul, shining bright.
He's traveled to places both dusty and grand, From Coachella to Hong Kong to Burning Man.
He's a Balloonatic, and that's quite a clue, Making balloon magic wherever he flew.
And if you've stopped by the 4-H tent,
There's a good chance you know who we meant.
He helped found the Pride Center years ago, Making a place where community could grow.
He stood on a TED stage sharing his tale, And still has adventures left to unveil.
Bright silly shirts are part of his style, And they almost always come with a smile.
Making new friends may be his greatest art, He welcomes new people right from the start.
Moonie only revealed his identity as the Mystery Jack O'Lantern at the parade itself. Though, technically, some people knew a little beforehand: A total of 20 4-H youth, volunteers, staff, and parents, including Moonie's mom, aunt, and nephew, many with their faces painted like pumpkins, accompanied him for the parade. University of Vermont Extension Rutland Office Administrative Assistant Pam Lowell, her son-in-law Dean and her husband, Ed, also helped provide the open-topped truck for Moonie to ride.
All of this, Moonie said, was what he wished.
"My first thing was, I want 4-H involved," Moonie said. "I want the phone to be ringing. I want the emails to come."
That's because Moonie is "an outreach person," always asking what people need.
"In rural places like Vermont, loneliness and depression and stuff, it can be overwhelming, and so giving people opportunities for community and to come together and to share, it's really important," he said. "I just want people to have a good quality of life. I just want people to be happy."
Moonie said that makes him a "hype man for anything." So when his nephew, James, joined the Rutland Performance and Arts 4-H Club after it formed in 2022, and when the club needed another adult chaperone to accompany youth to the Big E in Springfield, Massachusetts, Moonie said yes, he could go.
Then the Rutland County 4-H Foundation asked if he could join. Moonie said yes. A couple years ago, Vermont 4-H wondered if he could help, on a three-week contract basis, with the Vermont State Fair. Again, Moonie said yes. Three weeks turned into three months, turned into six months, turned into the full-time educator position.
This is all despite the fact that, as a kid growing up in Rutland County in the 1980s and '90s, Moonie never joined 4-H himself. At that time, he said, it seemed like only farm kids participated, and he wasn't a farm kid. Though he always thought the 4-H building at the fair was "really cool," and he said he always felt connected, somehow.
"There was always maybe manifestation or something that I ended up here," he said. "I tend to jump head-first, and just see what I can add."
4-H'ers said Moonie has added a lot to the 11 clubs in his region as Rutland and Bennington Counties Educator. From fostering new relationships with partners like Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home, where he hopes to start a new goat 4-H club, to getting youth out of their comfort zones.
"I think he's a really good leader," said Anna Campopiano, a 13-year-old member of the Tuff Riders 4-H Club. "At the fair, being in the 4-H building, [he encouraged us] talking to people... definitely doing that more helped with bonding."
Assistant Vermont 4-H Director Amy Miller said Moonie embraces making connections with all of 4-H.
"The shooting sports and robotics clubs, which often feel separate, he integrates them at any and every opportunity," she said. "The parade was another such example: the two holding the banner were Oxbow 4-H Shooting Sports Club participants, who qualified to go to nationals in June 2027. Also among the parade participants were a Rutland County dog project club, Crafty Critters, a horse project club, Tuff Riders, and the Rutland Performance and Arts Club."
Adeline White, 15, was one of the parade attendees from the Rutland Performance and Arts 4-H Club. It's the first club of its kind in Vermont. Adeline said they get to try things, like sign language interpretation and puppetry, that they might not get the chance to do elsewhere. They also said that the club makes allows for members to give and receive constructive feedback. And it's helped Adeline personally work through their social anxiety.
"It feels really good to know I can tell people a story through my performance," they said. "It feels powerful."
Adeline added that if youth have an interest, and they give it a little time, they'll likely meet more young people with that same interest in 4-H. Eventually, Adeline said, they can join around it, and find community.
They can, as Moonie said, grow the big sunflower. Then they can show it off all together, dressed up in face paint, 4-H hats and lights, at the Rutland Halloween Parade on a late October night.
"When the negativity happens, there can be no way out," Moonie said. "I like to walk on the sunny side, and show people what there is, and what there can be."
Vermont 4-H provides youth development opportunities to our communities, made possible by state and federal funding, generous donations and the support of dedicated volunteers. Want to get involved? Learn more on Vermont 4-H's website.
