Pumpkin carver Jim Vergunst had his chisel in a good one Saturday at Petrolia Fiery Faces Family Day.

The long-time ice and snow carver who added pumpkins a few years ago said not all of the orange gourds are created equal.

Some are easy to carve, some aren’t, said Vergunst who helped found Sarnia Snowfest, an annual winter festival that ran for about a quarter century before it paused several years ago.

Some pumpkins have tough skin that’s hard to work with, and some other varieties of gourds that can be “like rocks,” he said.

“This is the best quality of pumpkin for carving,” Vergunst said about the one he was working on Saturday in the Petrolia YMCA gym.

It had “good meat and the shell is soft,” he said.

Vergunst said he sees an image in his mind when he starts carving a pumpkin

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