On behalf of Guidestone’s Staff and Board of Directors, we would like to extend a resounding thank you to 
everyone in the community who participated in our 9th Annual Pumpkin Patch & Harvest Festival, the weekend of October 9-11. Gorgeous weather set the stage for a fantastic weekend of fun activities, and an amazing turn out of festival-goers of all ages. We are grateful to all the attendees, volunteers, sponsors and partners that helped make the weekend a success!
After all of the planning leading up to the event, it is always so exciting to finally open up the gates and watch the weekend unfold. Highlights of the event stand out to me through a variety of sensory images.
Some of my favorites include:
~The chug of Dennis Fischer’s old John Deere tractor coming and going from the entrance areas, and the jingle of bells on the draft horse team’s harness. These both add a quaintness and beauty to the surrounding landscape that evoke an agricultural lifestyle, and are icon’s of our agricultural heritage.
~The beauty of the site itself! Sunlight brightening the contrasting colors of golden Cottonwood trees against blue sky, bright orange pumpkins against the yellow-green of pasture grass, and the South Arkansas River flowing by it all. The Hutchinson Ranch is a gem of agricultural open space, and we are so grateful to the Hutchinson Family for sharing their ranch with the community through this event.
~The sights and sounds of a community celebrating the season together. The laughter of children in the maze, the smiles on freshly-painted cheeks, parental cheers as children try to catch that apple on a string (‘No hands, Mom!’), toes tapping to live music, the neigh of a pony with a bright-eyed youngster on its back, the smell of fresh-pressed apples and warm apple cider, the warmth of volunteers as they share the event with attendees young and old, a child endeavoring to carry a pumpkin much too big for their little arms.
These are just snippets of images that combined, all weave together to create a beautiful harvest festival tapestry!
The Pumpkin Patch & Harvest Festival is Guidestone’s largest fundraiser of the year. Proceeds from the Pumpkin Patch support the delivery of education programs, continued preservation efforts, and general operations of the Hutchinson Homestead and Learning Center, Guidestone’s homebase of operations.
Thank you again to all of the sponsors, donors, and volunteers who support the event. And a special thanks to all of this year’s attendees – we couldn’t do it without you!