There will be pumpkins, mums, games, food, decorations — whatever one wants to celebrate the beginning of fall — at this year’s Pumpkin Patch, sponsored by the Richmond Hill Garden Club.
The 16th annual Pumpkin Patch will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, in the J.F. Gregory Park Pavilion. Admission is free. Tickets, which can be used to play games, buy food or have faces painted, can be purchased for $1 each at the event.
This year’s game options are extensive. There are two beanbag-toss games — one for the little ones, and one for older kids who try to hit the giant pumpkin mouth. Also, as always, there are the Fish Pond, Ring the Pumpkin and Pick a Pumpkin games. Smash hits last year — Pumpkin Wheel of Fortune and Creepy Feels — also will return. New this year will be the Pumpkin Fortune Teller. Each game requires a
$1 ticket to play, and each player wins a prize.
There are two face-painting options, one by Lisa McCann, a professional face painter and Garden Club member. These require one ticket for the simple option and five tickets for the fancy one.
Photo opportunities abound, so attendees can wear Halloween costumes. The Pumpkin Fairy will be there, carrying her magic wand, distributing lollipops to youngsters and posing for pictures. There will be many staged areas with scarecrows, pumpkins and bales of straw for everyone to pose and shoot as many pictures as they wish.
Huge jack-o’-lanterns and lots of small pumpkins just the right size for youngsters will be waiting in the Pumpkin Patch, which will be nestled among giant mums. Along with all of this will be lots of indoor and outdoor decorative items for sale. Wreaths, signs, baskets, centerpieces — anything needed for decorating a home and yard — will be available, all at reasonable prices. Garden Club craft items, especially the Spider on a Stick, will also be featured. Pumpkins, decorative items, and bales of straw can be purchased for cash.
The Green Thumb Kids booth will return this year, distributing many varieties of free plants to youngsters. This year, cool-weather vegetable plants will be included. Kids will be able to select a plant, ask for planting advice and take it home to nurture it — either inside or outside, depending on the plant chosen.
After playing games, taking pictures and having faces painted, attendees will find a huge array of homemade goodies to enjoy. Garden Club members bake cakes, cookies, muffins and special Halloween-themed items. Food items require one ticket each or can be purchased for cash.
The Pumpkin Patch is an annual event, the Garden Club’s fundraiser that allows it to complete its many community projects. These projects include maintaining landscaping at its garden in Henderson Park, the Richmond Hill Library and other spots in town, distributing daffodil bulbs during the Christmas Parade, purchasing books for the Richmond Hill Library, donating to local charities such as the Way Station at Richmond Hill United Methodist Church, and providing a $1,000 scholarship for a deserving senior at Richmond Hill High School. Last year, the club was able to provide two $1,000 scholarships.