It's All About Pumpkins

 Once a year, First United Methodist Church of Seguin, Texas, focuses on pumpkins. They truck in lots and lots of bright orange pumpkins from a farm in New Mexico and set them up all over their front lawn.

Then, the Pumpkin Patch opens...from October 1st to October 31st, volunteers are available to assist pumpkin shoppers. Originally a youth ministry project when it was first started in 1995, it has grown and now, the proceeds from the sale of pumpkins benefits many of the church ministries. The youth still participate, but there are lots of older church members who volunteer their time to work in the Pumpkin Patch.

 There are pallets spread out on top of the grass, and rows and rows of pumpkins for a person to pick.

There are also several scarecrows standing guard. They're not really scary, for they are church scarecrows, you know.

Here are some of the volunteers who were working when I visited the Pumpkin Patch.

The schools and day cares come and visit, too, and sometimes, they get to play with one of the volunteer storytellers. I met Helen, the lady in the pink blouse, after she told a pumpkin story to one group of pre-schoolers. She told me that there are many storytellers, each taking an hour or so of the day. I could tell she really enjoyed meeting the children.

This young man is one of the youth from the church. He has been coming to the Pumpkin Patch since he was a little boy, and now, he helps out as a volunteer.

 There are many different sizes of pumpkins to choose, from the mini all the way up to great big pumpkins.

The hardest part is choosing which one is your very favorite!