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Pumpkin Patch First United Methodist Church continues to grow its fall tradition Story by Felicia Frazar Photos by Felicia Frazar & Katy O’Bryan
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sea of orange covers the lawn of First United Methodist Church. Visitors may not find Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin lurking here, but they’ll discover the fun, family time in the church’s Pumpkin Patch. For almost 30 years, the gourds have brought something new and different to the church and the community, eventually evolving into a mustsee, fall destination. “It is a fun place to be,” said Terry Webb, First United Methodist Church Pumpkin Patch committee member. “We knew we were a destination when we would chat with people and they would say they were from Houston. It has become the place to get pictures. We’ve had a number of people come with their children through the years and they have pictures from infancy on up.” The Pumpkin Patch started as a fundraiser for the youth ministries by Youth Director Katie Arnold in 1994, Webb said. When Terry and Dean Webb
12 SEGUIN ~ GUADALUPE COUNTY LIVING
joined the church and took over as the youth directors, they took over the Patch and began expanding it. “We saw what else the Pumpkin Patch can be in other places and we brought that back to First Methodist,” Terry said. “Then one thing led to another, then a half truck led to two trucks and a whole month instead of a couple of weeks. It continued to really enrich the youth program. The money earned was substantial and allowed our youth to go on mission trips out of state.” Eventually, the Patch was handed over to a church committee to continue and it broadened its mission outreach to include more church missions and community nonprofits, Terry said. “The Patch is something the church believes in and wants to share with the community because it is a wholesome, helpful place for people to come and enjoy God’s creation in the form of a pumpkin,” Terry said. The pumpkins arrive in two shipments — one at the beginning of October and one in the middle — from
Pumpkin Patch USA. Just like the sale of the pumpkins benefits the church’s many missions, it also supports the Navajo Nation, which grows and harvests the pumpkins. Over time, each committee brought something new to the Pumpkin Patch to change it up and bring more visitors, including school children with the additions of story time and a science lesson. “Vicki Spradling created a corner where we weigh the pumpkins and then she has a bucket of water where we drop them in to see if they float or not,” Terry said. “She has seeds that are already cut out of a pumpkin. She cuts open a pumpkin so the kids can look inside and talks about the growing season. She’ll have some pumpkins growing in the Patch.” Story time includes books that focus on fun pumpkin facts and moral lessons. Mostly when people come to visit, they find themselves enthralled in the beauty that surrounds them and can’t help but capture it in photos.
