"Do I really have to worry in September about getting tickets for a Halloween event?"

Well, technically, no, you don't have to worry about anything I suppose. But, if you're a Blaze fanatic, or you've spent some time with a Blaze fanatic and are wondering what all the fuss is about and plan to see for yourself this October. Well, then yes, you do need to worry about this sort of thing in September. Because there are a lot of other people like you.

Here's the latest on the ticket availability front...Tickets for Saturdays, Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25, are nearly all gone. You can still book 9:30 slots, and, for Oct. 4 and 11, there are still tickets for the 9 p.m. slots.

From there, those prime Friday night time slots, like 7, 7:30, 8, have dwindling availability for Oct. 11 and, well, that's it.

No day is totally sold out, and some dates have tickets in all slots, so don't despair. But, on a per diem basis, tickets are moving out of inventory at a healthy clip. And once they're gone, they are, well, gone. No government bailout here, folks.

I don't hide the fact that I love pumpkins. Or that I love carved pumpins. And that, specifically, I'm in love with the carved pumpkins at The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. I mean, my blog posts dating back to July 07 offer more than enough evidence for this.

Now, I've oft been accused of having a one-track orange-hued mind and perhaps that's the case, but, consider this: Right now I'm staring at the above image of those four iPod touch (touches?) and I am giddy, giggling like a puppy romping through a pumpkin patch. Those... things... are... COOL. Sleek, button-free, multi-gig holding music and video machines. Yum yum! Apple calls them the "funnest" iPod ever and while the grown-up wordsmith in me recoils in shock, the kid in me loves the idea of having something funner.

Want one? Yea, me too. Thing is, faithful blog readers and Blaze visitors, you have a chance to take YOUR love for the Blaze and all things pumpkin carved and turn it into an iPod touch. It's an unbeatable combination.

You've got FOUR chances to win an iPod touch when you attend Blaze, film some cool video, and post it on YouTube. The Blaze gurus are giving away an iPod EACH WEEK in October. Basically, come to Blaze, film it, edit the footage, and get it on YouTube. Though there's a prize each week, each video can only be entered once. So, if you don't win the first week, rework your work (or come to Blaze again and shoot more) and try the next week. This page has all the gory details.

As you may recall, there was a similar contest last year with one winner. You can check it out here.

And here's our video from '06, which, thanks to the ever-evolving nature of the brilliant Blaze creators, is a little dated now.

That question gets asked a lot w/r/t Blaze, and the answer, quite simply, is the legion of volunteers who help scoop the pumpkins, prepping them for the creative guns, and then lighting the candles each night (err, afternoon, actually. It takes upwards of four hours to get everything lit!).

Some of the folks who pitch in are dedicated individuals who got in touch and offered to lend a hand or two, but many others come as part of a group pitch-in. Among the organizations helping out this year are:

Westchester ARC

Another Step

Living Resources of Northern Westchester

Cardinal McClusky School

Even Start

Pace University 

Ossining High School

Croton High School

Rye Country Day School

John Jay Middle School

Westchester Putnam Boy Scouts

Heart of the Hudson Girl Scouts

United Way volunteer center

Stamford Girl Scouts

Kudos to who are unafraid of getting their hands pumpkiny, like the young lad above shown with carving meister Vern Ford.

So, is anything going on at Van Cortlandt Manor in preparation for The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze 08? Oh, you better believe it! In fact, it's safe to say the site is gradually being transformed into Blazeland, given that opening night is a mere 19 days away. Blaze, the 18-night pumpkin-fueled fandango that is Westchester (nay, New York's) biggest, bestest October event kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 4.

In the meantime, we've gone social...networking that is. Assuming you're not too young or too old, you must be on MySpace or Facebook or both, right?

Wherever you happen to park your online self, connect with us! Friend us on MySpace, become a fan on Facebook. Tell your friends, neighbors, kids, delivery guy...we want to get virtually warm and fuzzy with you.

Click here to see the Blaze Facebook page.

Click here to see the Blaze MySpace page.

Thom Thacker, site director at Philipsburg Manor, is participating in Sunday's Hudson River Swim for Life, helping to raise money to fight blood cancers.

The three-mile Hudson River Swim For Life begins in Nyack and ends at Kingsland Park in Sleepy Hollow.

Besides raising awareness of the Hudson River and promoting swimming as a (literally) cool way to exercise, the Swim for Life most importantly raises dough for the ongoing work of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The Society focuses its efforts on finding cures for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and Hodgkin's disease and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

A round of applause for Thom's efforts!