If it's October -- it must be time for pumpkins!
If it's October -- it must be time for pumpkins!
Come visit the Wesley UMC Pumpkin Patch 2007 throughout the month of October!
Each weekday morning from 9:00 am - 12 noon, the Pumpkin Patch is reserved for school field trips...over 300 children are already signed up!
Hours of operation to purchase pumpkins are:
Monday - Friday, 12 Noon - 6:00 pm
Saturday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Closed on Sunday
Thanks to the "Great Team of Pumpkin Patch Supporters"- otherwise known as the Wesley UMC members (ages 4 to "up there"), all worked together to unload the pumpkins, sort, stack and re-stack.
David Allen, just as strong as men half his age wrangles pumpkins onto pallets...
The ladies deciding where to place the "Martha Stewart Pumpkins"...they are all so pretty this year!
The youngest of the pumpkin unloading team, Susan and Wesley, debating on just who was driving this particular wheel barrow...
The truck seemed to never empty!
Walt Harvey finally getting to sit and be the official counter for a while... probably wondering what his pretty wife Susan had in store for his retirement!
Our first official sale of 2007, to the effervescent Dyana Flax...just moments before her first rehearsal with her StoryWalk cast!
Catherine Pate, happy to accept the first sale of the day!
(be sure to visit Catherine's First Monday Cafe` the first Monday of each month, in the All Saint's Hall, only $5 for soups, breads/sandwiches, dessert, tea and coffee!)
Wouldn't you know that if Norm Miner was helping, he'd have exactly the correct tools needed to repair a buckling pallet?
From over 40 pounds to a little mini...
You will find all the pumpkins and gourds you need...
At the Wesley UMC Pumpkin Patch
Proceeds go to local missions.
Happy October!
Thanks Jana . . .
Thanks for this info, Jana! My son has been asking for a few weeks now when could we go to the pumpkin patch. We've driven by several times and I was going to ask you about this today - so perfect timing! I can't wait to see how many pumpkins we end up with this year!
Unbelievable!
We are in violation yet again for banners, and this time decorations.
Please drive by the pumpkin patch today and tomorrow and let us know if you think that we are doing anything wrong with decorating the fence and adding advertisement for something that brings so much joy to the community and raises funds for the charities of Hartsville.
And then, tell me if the ordinance is being upheld with the leash law in Hartsville? Are there not dogs running amuck?
We are sending some folks to the City Council Planning meeting tonight, but if we are indeed in violation the city will send someone to remove the offensive material.
From a charity Pumpkin Patch.
Wow.
Warm, Welcoming and Friendly!
Warm, welcoming and friendly is what I think of the signs and decorations! It adds tremendously to that hometown feeling. I love seeing it and the feelings it gives!
In life I have learned some rules are more of guidelines and common sense must be applied
Pumpkin Patch Welcomes Fall and All
Jana, I am amazed that y'all are causing problems again this year! Didn't you learn your lesson last fall? Seriously, your church's pumpkin patch is a bright spot in Hartsville that is, indeed, welcoming, warm, and friendly. My son is excited about taking some friends and picking out just the right pumpkins.
Why is it that some people can appreciate this beautiful, fun, and charitable part of the autumn season and others can't? We need to be looking at this from a public relations viewpoint: If you were a visitor in Hartsville, perhaps thinking about moving here, wouldn't that pumpkin patch say that this town is a warm, caring, and hospitable place? Hartsville is a great place to raise a family, go to church, and help others. That's what your pumpkin patch is all about!
HA, HA, HA- LOL
Are you kidding me?? There is something offensive about decorating for Fall and pumpkins?? What is wrong with people?? Okay i understand that everyone is different, but come on this is extreme. I wonder if it has anything to do with it celebrating "halloween"- some religions are not exactly for that idea.
Come on i know whoever you are is out there reading this and is just itching to answer these perplexing questins.
Kim Chafin
www.ALOETTE.com
kimchafin@gmail.com
Celebration of God's Creation
Kim, I'm pretty sure they would tell you at Wesley that they are not celebrating Halloween at all. I bet they save their joyful celebrations for Jesus' birthday and His resurrection. Nothing about their advertising says anything about Halloween. Autumn is just a time for pumpkins and people like to decorate with pumpkins. By the way, a lot of churches use this time of year to give people an alternative to the traditional, ghoulish Halloween. For example, Emmanuel Baptist has advertised on this site about its annual Judgement House, which I've heard is always great. I hope I get a chance to go this year. My own church, Lakeview Baptist, will be having a Hallelujah Harvest Fest on October 31. This is just a particularly good time of year to shine Jesus' light into the darkness and I think Wesley UMC is doing a fantastic job!
What's the Verdict?
Jana, What is the verdict on Wesley's banner violation? Did the representatives have any luck at the city planning meeting?
City Council Planning Meeting
Pastor Terry Martin, Walt Harvey and Jean Shirley Watkins all went to the City Council Planning Meeting on Tuesday night. They were afforded the opportunity to explain that the pumpkin patch has been decorated in the same fashion for four years, and that the atmosphere adds to the experience for the hundreds of school children that visit it during the month of October.
In fact, this year, the Wesley UMC Pumpkin Patch will be attended by over 500 children! The little ones attend from various schools in Hartsville, and this year even some from Darlington. They have story time, learn about how they are farmed, get to "adopt" a little pumpkin to take home, and have a snack in a positive, fun, and Christian way. It's an autumn, fall, harvest based message, not "Halloween".
Walt and Susan Harvey have been the coordinators of the Pumpkin Patch the last few years, and along with many other Wesley members have put a lot of time and effort into making it a lovely, beautiful little autumn tradition in Hartsville. As I already mentioned, this is a fundraiser for the church's Mission Outreach group to raise money for local charities such as Hartsville Interfaith Ministries and the Hartsville Soup Kitchen Mission, etc. After the meeting, Walt, Pastor Terry and Jean were told that the City Council would look into it, and we'd hear back.
All day yesterday, we wondered if our cute pumpkin signs, small banners and corn stalk banners would have to removed from the fence.... as the fax we received from the City Planner's office with the handwritten admonition to remove them said "5:00 on Wednesday". I guess we'll see this morning whether they are still there or not.
I hope that we can be allowed an exemption from the ordinance; we have already complied with the one banner rule for our First Monday Cafe and put out two sandwich board signs per their request... this Pumpkin Patch is a different story, as we need things that can stay up through rain and the elements to promote and advertise the patch without worrying about wooden sandwich board signs having to be dragged in each night. (we have had a LOT of vandalism up town the last year, if you hadn't already heard).
We do understand that the ordinance has been on the books for years and years, but hadn't been enforced until last spring. Rules, ordinances and even laws are usually written for a specific reason...and certainly we all agree that we do have a pretty city here in Hartsville that we wish to remain so. But, rules, ordinances and
The City Council meets again next week, Tuesday night, so maybe we'll get some resolution then.
Who was that on the corner of the Pumpkin Patch at noon?
Walt Harvey walked into my office today and said, "Jana, there is a concerned citizen out by the Pumpkin Patch with a sign and his dog.... he thought you may want to come by and say hello."
Oh, goodness.
"The Concerned Citizen" was non other than a lifelong member of Wesley UMC, just wanting to spread a little peaceful demonstration on WWJD- "What Would Jesus Do?" about the city ordinance banning banners for churches zoned B-1.
"A Concerned Citizen" and his dog, Ginger.... getting a lot of waves and horn honks on this warm fall day.
Ah, I love living in Hartsville! :)
Priorities?
Maybe the "CITY" should put as much effort in resolving the vandalism that has taken place in the Wesley UMC area as it is in trying to remove subversive signs like "Wesley Pumpkin Patch". What do you think?
CLARIFY
SORRY TO ANYONE THAT I MAY HAVE OFFENDED! I THINK I NEED TO CLARIFY USING HALLOWEEN IN MY COMMENT.
I DO REALIZE THAT THE CHURCH ISN'T CELEBRATING "HALLOWEEN". PUMPKINS SYMBOLIZE FALL AS WELL AS HALLOWEEN TO ME.
BUT THIS IS SIMPLY ABOUT THE BANNER AND NOTHNG ELSE SO MY COMMENTS WEREN'T REALLY RELEVENT ANYWAYS.
:)
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