ARLINGTON — Rigby Ishikawa is only 3 years old, but he already knows what Oct. 1 means, which was why he joined his siblings and their parents at Foster’s Produce, located at 5818 State Route 530 NE, where he managed to pick out a pumpkin that was almost as big around as he was, even if he had to try more than once to lift it.
“We always come back here for the pumpkins,” said Shintaro Ishikawa, Rigby’s dad. “The kids love carving jack-o’-lanterns and making a mess. It’s what the month is all about.”
Connie Foster, co-owner of Foster’s Produce, appreciates that their pumpkin patch and corn maze — that she and her husband, Brian, started in 1998 — have become an annual tradition for so many local families.
“I enjoy seeing so many of the same people, year in and year out,” said Foster, who touted their one-night-only flashlight maze from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, along with their slingshot contest and air-cannon for shooting small pumpkins as far as 200 yards. “I like that we can offer folks a non-scary, family-friendly festival.”
Foster’s Produce isn’t the only Arlington farm offering harvest-themed attractions throughout October.
Three years ago, third-generation farmer Gary Biringer and his wife, Julie, replaced the former Biringer Farm pumpkin patch with the current Black Crow pumpkin patch and corn maze, located at 2431 SR 530 in Arlington.
Head east on SR 530, and you can also visit the Mystic Mountain Nursery’s pumpkin patch, located at 29909 Oso Loop Rd.
Marysville residents needn’t worry about being left out of the seasonal festivities, since the Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home at 804 State Ave. is staging its fifth annual harvest festival, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Funeral director Kelcie Valder is promising attendees a chance to paint pumpkins, ride a hay wagon and greet the animals at a petting zoo, all for free.
“For more than a hundred years, this community has supported us, and allowed us to serve their families,” Valder said. “This is just our way of giving back.”
The following weekend, the Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 7215 51st Ave. NE in Marysville will be hosting its own harvest festival, from 3-7 p.m. Oct. 11.
In addition to a variety of cuisine, this event is set to offer an entire lineup of hobby demonstrations, from woodcarving to painting.
That same Saturday, Oct. 11, will see the kickoff of the Marysville Rotary Club’s “Pumpkins for Literacy” patch, hosted by the Smokey Point Plant Farm at 15022 Twin Lakes Ave. in Marysville.
Proceeds from the Rotary pumpkin patch will go to Marysville and Lakewood school literacy programs.
Although “Pumpkins for Literacy” no longer buys students hardbound dictionaries, due to the availability of online dictionaries, Marysville Rotarian Chris Nation touted their value to the students who received them in the past.
“For many of them, it was their first dictionary, and maybe even the first book that they owned,” Nation said. “We made sure they understood that these were items that belonged to them. Poverty can affect people’s lives in a lot of ways, but giving these kids books that were their own was one way of helping them.”
Check The Arlington Times and The Marysville Globe for updates on the harvest and Halloween events happening later this month.
