Thursday, October 4, 2012

Pumpkin Hunt at White Fall Farm 2012 Weekend One

Well, it is officially Fall and we're into October, so it must be time for the The Pumpkin Hunt at White Fall Farm. The year Joanne and I agreed to handle the Concession Stand. We got real lucky for our first weekend with the help, because we needed it. Jeremiah and Kate had agreed to help us, so they were there with the kids, Leah and Jeremiah. Our daughter, Courtney, was visiting from New York state with Levi and Lila, they helped too. 

It took us over an hour to get the canopy set up the first Saturday, then we realized we didn't bring the cover. Fortunately there was a spare tarp available. We decided to leave the frame up for the whole month, just taking the cover off each night. We had crock pots and a grill to warm up, coolers to load with drinks and ice, hot dogs to grill, and BBQ to cook. Kate chopped the onions, since Joanne was concerned about me using anything sharp. There were chips, cookies, animal crackers, and Cracker Jacks to set out. Being the first weekend,everything took longer to get arranged and organized.
Leah had her own jug of apple juice that we had to keep putting away and retrieving for her. Levi was a big help unloading boxes and helping with Baby Jeremiah. Levi pushed that baby stroller all around the fields and castle.

Courtney and Joanne did most of the order taking and kept track of the money. I'm not sure they trust me with that either. Kate and I did the hot dog and BBQ prep. The kids had the run of the Pumpkin Hunt, except when they took a break to eat.

Fortunately the first weekend isn't the busiest time. While we had quite a bit of business, we had the chance to get our ducks in row and get a flow going.

The kids and the adults love the wheat box. Imagine a big sandbox, but instead of sand it is full of wheat kernels. When we got home we had about a cup of wheat from what was in the kid's pockets. With a smaller crowd there we felt much more comfortable letting the kids run off to the wheat box, pumpkin painting, the corn maze, or the haybale castle. 







 The kids love the hay bale castle.
They don't just love climbing through the castle, they also love siding down from the third level.
The hay rides required an adult to ride with the smaller children, so all of us took turns riding with the kids. I'm not sure how many rides Levi, Lila, and Leah went on, all I know is they used all of us to ride along with them.
White Fall Farm is peaceful and tranquil. Except for occasionally hearing the tractor start up, all you hear is the wind in the trees, children laughing and squealing, and the farm animals sounds. If it has been awhile since you've experienced something that, come on down and spend the day. Bring a chair, sit on the hay bales under the trees, climb the hay bale castle and sit on the top, soak it all in.



I have never seen such a variety of pumpkins and gourds.

Leah and Lila did the famous Pumpkin Hunt. The Pumpkin Hunt throws hundreds of small pumpkin out in a field. Children are let loose to find as many as they can in a certain amount of time. Then all the kids gather together and count their pumpkins. The child who has found the most in each age group wins a carving pumpkin. Every child walks away with two of the small pumpkins that they found.
In all the times that we've come to the Pumpkin Hunt, I've seen families and generations reconnect. Its just that kind of place. This year it was our turn, we brought our own generations. It really doesn't get much better than this.



While we were disappointed that Courtney's husdand Dave and our two oldest grandchildren, Thomas and Taisie, weren't able to come in for the week; it was a delight to have so much of our family join us at the Pumpkin Hunt. It is nice to be able to share something that has been such a joy for Joanne and me over the last 5 years. My Walt Disney World in Pittsylvania County. You really need to check this out, you really do.

I want to thank Donna Adams, Joanne Johnson, and Courtney Harrington for taking so many of the photos. I really slacked off on my picture taking job. I'll try to do better in the coming weeks.