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Community Corner

Your Guide to Pumpkin Patches, Hayrides, Halloween

From this weekend on, there's lots for you to do with family and friends to soak up the feeling and festivities of Fall.

Looking for a pumpkin patch, a Halloween hayride or a farm to pick your own? Before you firm up your weekend plans, take a look at our guide to all things Fall and enjoy the season!

This Weekend:

  • Kean University in Union is hosting a Pumpkin Patch day on Oct. 22. The event is filled with pumpkin picking, carving and decorating, Halloween crafts, hayrides, house tours and more. Tickets are $10 for adults, $10 for Senior Citizens and college students, $6 for children and children under 3 are free.  There is an additional charge for pumpkins. Lunch is available from vendors.

 

Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wondering Where to Get a Pumpkin?

Hurricane Irene ruined much of the local pumpkin crop but these local farms and nurseries shipped pumpkins in to meet the October demand.

Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • offers kids a hayride for $5 through a spooky graveyard to a pumpkin patch where they can pick their own pumpkins that range in price depending on size. The nursery also offers a hay maze and a game called Perturbed Birds that is a real-life version of Angry Birds, where kids get to use sling shots to propel stuffed birds into barrels for points. For $1, you get three shots. For $2, you get seven shots. The nursery is also hosting a scarecrow contest, which is judged throughout October, and a costume and pumpkin-carving contest on Oct. 29.
  • in Cranford. Read a story
  • in Clark sells pumpkins from 79 cents to $150 depending on size.
  • in Clark

 

Upcoming Fall Events

  • The Great Pumpkin Carve-Out is scheduled for Oct. 29 in Cranford. Pumpkins must be dropped off from 10 to 3 p.m. at in Cranford.  Awards will be giving for the funniest, scariest and most original pumpkin for the ages of 4-8, 9-12, 13-17 and 18-adult. The pumpkins will be on display from 6-9 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The pumpkin walk will be followed by a movie in the park. The Bride of Frankenstein begins at 7 p.m. about how much fun the event will be!
  • The will be Nov. 1 with a rain date of Nov. 2 at Echo Lake Park in Mountainside.  Jack-O-lanterns will illuminate the lake and there are three sail times to pick from: 5:15 to 6:30 p.m., 6:45 to 8 p.m. or 8:15 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets cost $8 for a family of four in Union County or $16 for a family of four outside of Union County.
  • Redeemer Lutheran Church in Westfield will be holding its annual Shepherd’s Hook Craft and Gift Fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 5, and this year the fair will have an added attraction of a Cranberry Fest!

 

Willing to make a drive for some Fall fun?

  • Wightman's Farms in Morristown offers pumpkins, pick-your-own apples, a corn maze, a hay maze, a nautical rope maze, hayrides and homemade apple cider donuts. Route 202, 1111 Mt. Kemble Ave., Morristown, NJ. Phone: (973) 425-9819; Hotline: (973) 425-0840. Email: wightmansfarms@yahoo.com.
  • Giamarese Farms in New Brunswick is hosting from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The events include hayrides, pony rides, a corn maze and farm animals.
  • For more information on farms and PYO in other counties visit http://www.pickyourown.org/NJ.htm
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