Celebrating the pumpkin is widespread in our community. People of all ages participate to some degree or another. When it comes to youth, it’s about making memories.

Lisa Werth of Herron Hidden Creek Farms said, “I love seeing the smiles on kids’ faces as they walk through the pumpkin patch to select the perfect pumpkin!”

They have grown pumpkins for the past four years, continuing a family tradition started by her brother, Andy Blaskowski, of Cheboygan. He used to grow pumpkins when her girls were young. With a smile on her face, Werth explained, “it was just a fun time in our lives.” The girls loved picking their pumpkins, carving them, and using them for decorations at their home.

At their farm stand on Wolf Creek Road in Wilson Township, from the beginning of the fall harvest and throughout October, pumpkins of all colors adorn the terrain. Technically, Lisa points out, the different colored ones are “not true pumpkins.” “They are classified as either gourds or squash,” she said. “In our celebration of the pumpkin, we are grouping them in. Ten varieties. All sizes. The largest out there is estimated to tip the scales at 60 pounds.”

Courtesy Photo A child paints a pumpkin at a past Apple Pumpkin Fun Day at the Tractor Club grounds on French Road. This year's event is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

You don’t grow 2,000 pumpkins on a family farm and not make it a family project. Everybody in the family: Lisa, whose goal is to carry on the tradition; husband Jeremy who Lisa says is instrumental in making it all happen by lending his farming expertise; and all the girls: Cambree and Calee Gildner, and Kiera and Amara Werth, whose physical labor and commitment to support the venture to help carry it through; and Luna the family dog.

“Luna loves the pumpkin patch!” Lisa Werth said.

Her scent as a dog can’t hurt in assisting with the deterrence of the biggest challenge facing the patch — wildlife.

Other obstacles to be dealt with in the patch are: weeds, bugs, and sufficient moisture.

“With the weeds and bugs,” Werth said, “it’s important to stay ahead of them.” Tending the seeds for germination, and then nursing them for good root development, takes a lot of water. So, if nature doesn’t provide it at the optimum time, the task of hauling water to their rescue is vital.

Courtesy Photo A child picks out a pumpkin at a past Apple Pumpkin Fun Day at the Tractor Club grounds on French Road. This year's event is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

“I used to plant the whole patch all by hand,” she recalled. “Once Jeremy purchased pumpkin plates for the planter (that he pulls behind the farm tractor), the time getting seeds in the ground has been cut way down. But, with the seeds being put in the ground by the planter, I don’t know where they are. So, it’s like Christmas when they come up — a pleasant surprise.”

This past weekend, the Werth family and friends celebrated fall on the farm. Lots goes on! Scouting the pumpkin patch for the perfect pumpkin, apple cider pressing, and apple sauce making took place. And, beyond that, a small fundraising event was held to help raise money for Second Chance Animal Shelter. It’s a win/win for family traditions and community betterment!

Let’s talk about another event that takes place and has become a fall family tradition — Apple Pumpkin Fun Day. It’s held the second Saturday of every October at the Alpena Antique Tractor and Steam Engine Club grounds on French Road, since 2009.

Thanks to the nine local community-minded sponsors that help defray club costs, the event is free to the public. FREE! 400 pumpkins! Each that will be transformed to a colorful decoration at the painting station. Fresh apple cider that is pressed from the apples right before your eyes. Games for the kids! Prizes! Puppet show put on by a professional puppeteer. Petting zoo put together by Alpena County 4-H. Participation of public safety personnel (Alpena County Sheriff Erik Smith will be handing out ice cream) and community organizations to offer encouragement, protective gear and information!

Where do these pumpkins come from? They are donated for the cause by Glen Herron Farm in Spratt, and other various farm locations where they are grown by Tractor Club members for this purpose. Why? They do it so every child can enjoy the tradition of a pumpkin for fall decorations.

Courtesy Photo Gathered for a fall photo at Herron Hidden Creek Farms are, standing, from left, Jeremy and Lisa Werth, sitting, from left, Amara Werth, Cambree and Calee Gildner, and Kiera Werth. Posing proudly in front is Luna, the family dog.

The event, run by volunteers year after year, starts this year at 11 a.m. on Saturday, with festivities running until 3 p.m. If it’s like in years past, cars begin entering the grounds long before that time. Thus, when 11 rolls around, the pumpkin selection begins!

Spread out on the ground to the side of the barn and also lined up on the wagon are 400 pumpkins. Pumpkins that, just a few hours before, were sitting in the field. Pumpkins that in order to be prepared for painting have been individually wiped down. Pumpkins that if they were the subject in a child’s book, would all be able to tell their own story by the time Halloween arrives.

“There is one expectation of visitors,” explains Tractor Club Secretary Angie Krajniak, “that each child present get one pumpkin. We don’t want any child who comes to our event to leave empty-handed, because someone was inconsiderate. For the most part, people are really good about honoring that.”

Happy Fall Harvest Traditions!

Mary Centala and her husband, Mike, own and operate Heritage Acres Farm in Wilson Township. Mary has a lifelong connection with agriculture and has journalism and broadcasting degrees from Alpena Community College and Central Michigan University. Contact her at heritageacres15@yahoo.com.