Pumpkins all around at church sale

Garrett Smith, 1, looks over a pumpkin at the Winterville United Methodist Church pumpkin patch on Sunday. Photograph by Richard Hamm


by Jennifer L. Johnson

It normally takes about five months for a pumpkin to grow to maturity, but the front lawn of Winterville United Methodist Church turned orange overnight.

Nearly 800 pumpkins have arrived on the lawn facing Main Street in the Winterville city square for the church's second annual Pumpkin Patch, a sale benefiting the church's ministries.

"This year the pumpkins are bigger and better looking," said JoAnn Snow, Winterville UMC outreach and mission chairwoman and Pumpkin Patch coordinator. "They're much better than last year's delivery."

The pumpkins come from an Indian reservation in New Mexico, and last year before the church received the delivery, a three-day freeze damaged or destroyed many of the 500 pumpkins that made their way to Winterville.

"We threw out more than we sold," Snow said.

After all of their expenses last year, the Pumpkin Patch only made $141.

"Despite that, we felt that the camaraderie of the volunteers and our impact on the community was worth the cost of continuing this year," Snow said. "Last year was a very enjoyable experience for everyone."

The Pumpkin Patch quickly became popular with local day care groups and pre-school classes. At $1 a child, groups brought children to see the pumpkins, have story time, take a hay ride, play in the church's playground and shoot a group picture in the patch's fall-themed photo center.

The photo center was such a big hit last year that program leaders decided to leave it up until Thanksgiving, according to Snow.

"I remember driving down the street in the evening well into November and seeing families taking pictures of their kids on the bench," Snow said.

About 50 church volunteers - nearly a third of the church's membership - will be taking shifts at the Pumpkin Patch before the end of the month.

The Pumpkin Patch has mini-pumpkins for table decorations, huge carvers for the front stoop, and all the sizes in between, as well as gourds like swan and star gourds. Prices range from tiny pumpkins for $1 to huge pumpkins at $40.

"Fruits of the Vine," a cookbook of pumpkin recipes from the church, is free with any purchase of $20 or more.

While this year's crop is a treat, Snow told volunteers on opening day about the trick that she'd just discovered: A misprint in the cookbooks means some pages are upside down.

"So if anyone should make mention of it," Snow said, "Just tell them that it's the trick of trick or treat."

Winterville's family-friendly Halloween celebration will be the church's Fall Festival on Oct. 24 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The event is open to the public and will have free hot dogs and drinks while supplies last. In addition to the pumpkins and gourds still for sale, there will be games for the kids, face-painting and hay rides.

Volunteer Bob Liedberg can't wait.

"What was great about the Fall Festival was it was everybody coming together-not just the congregation but the community, too," Liedberg said. "Things like this really bring a place together."

The Pumpkin Patch is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.


Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, October 19, 2009