Editor: Pumpkins and mums, games for fun, face painting and good food, home and garden decorations—that’s what you’ll find at this year’s Pumpkin Patch, sponsored by the Richmond Hill Garden Club. A tradition for 15 years now, this year’s event will be held in the pavilion in J. F. Gregory Park on Saturday, October 4, from 9-1.  Admission is free. Tickets ($1 each) must be purchased to play games, buy food, or have faces painted.  
The game options have been expanded this year.  In addition to the usual Fish Pond, Ring the Pumpkin, Pick a Pumpkin, and Bean Bag Toss into giant pumpkin mouths (little pumpkin mouths for little kids in the Pumpkin Toss), the garden club is introducing Pumpkin Wheel of Fortune and Creepy Feels.   Each game requires a $1 ticket to play, and each player wins a prize.  Face painting requires either a $1 ticket or 3 $1 tickets, depending on the complexity of the design.
The Pumpkin Fairy will be in attendance, carrying her magic wand, distributing lollipops to youngsters, and posing for pictures.  There will be numerous other photo op stations throughout the area.  Be sure to bring your camera to capture a moment with hay bales, cornstalks, scarecrows, and pumpkins. All of these along with many other indoor and outdoor decorative items will be for sale.  You’ll find wreaths, signs, baskets, centerpieces—anything you need for decorating your home and yard, all at reasonable prices. Garden Club craft items, especially the famous Spider on a Stick, will also be featured.
There will be lots of big Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins for sale that will decorate yards beautifully.  Plenty of small pumpkins, just the right size for youngsters, will also be waiting in the Pumpkin Patch. And, for the first time other types of pumpkins — for example, white ones that make great ghost pumpkins — will also be for sale.
The Garden Club’s Green Thumb Kids Project will be distributing free plants to children.  These will include all types of plants, including ones easily grown in pots.  Youngsters will be able to select a plant, ask for some planting advice, and take it home to nurture it, either inside or out, depending on the plant chosen.  A Green Thumb Kids plant offers a wonderful opportunity to learn about gardening.
After playing games, taking pictures, and having your face painted, you’ll find a huge array of homemade goodies to enjoy.  Garden club members outdo themselves, baking pumpkin cookies and muffins, apple cakes, brownies, and all sorts of Halloween-themed nibbles. Food items are $1 and may be purchased with either a ticket or cash.  
The Pumpkin Patch is an annual event, the garden club’s fund raiser that allows it to complete its many community projects.  These projects include maintaining landscaping at its garden in Henderson Park, the library, and other spots in town, distributing daffodil bulbs during the Christmas Parade, purchasing books for the Richmond Hill Library, and providing a $1,000 scholarship for a deserving senior at Richmond Hill High School. Don’t miss this year’s event.  Everyone will have fun.

— Richmond Hill
Garden Club