St. Jude's pumpkin patch growing strong

The second annual St. Jude's Pumpkin Patch is back with some new additions, and still promises to deliver a good time for all.

The Pumpkin Patch is scheduled for Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at St. Jude Thaddeus Elementary School.

The St. Jude Pumpkin Patch is being put on by St. Jude Home and School. In their mission statement, Home and School said their objective is "to provide parents, teachers and parishioners opportunities to work together for the benefit of our students."

The mission statement continues by saying its aim is to also serve as a vehicle of communication between home and school, organize programs and raise funds to meet school needs and equipment.

Home and School also puts on other events such as book fairs, carnivals and dances, Holiday Gingerbread House making party, Penny Wars, Trunk or Treat and Parents Night Out.

Home and school committee member Twyla Knudson said the Pumpkin Patch started with her suggesting an outdoor activity involving a pumpkin patch for the kids to do at her house around this time of year.

"That sort of jumpstarted things. Then my entire property ended up in town," she said, to laughs from Lisa Malsam, secretary, and Amanda Vaugh, committee member.

Knudson was last year's chair of the Home and School committee.

Vaughn and Malsam both added the other reason for the Pumpkin Patch was to give the community something to do as well. Vaughn added the Pumpkin Patch is a good way to bring the school together as well. The teachers and student council get involved and help out with planning the event.

Bob's Greenhouse assisted with supplying the pumpkins this year in a unique way. Malsam said they were approached by the owners of the Greenhouse in the spring and were told they could use a portion of the greenhouse to have the kids plant their own pumpkins to use for the Pumpkin Patch.

"That was a fun activity for the kids to do," Vaughn said. "They got to go plant them and then they had something to do during the summer. They helped weed and harvest them just the other week."

Malsam said Bob and Kathy Doney donated all the supplies - seeds, trays, greenhouse space - for the kids to use. The pumpkins are being stored in a heated greenhouse waiting to be used. The committee members said they would like to extend another big "thank you" to the Doney's for their help and support for this year's pumpkin patch.

Knudson said last year's Pumpkin Patch took about eight weeks to plan out and the event was such a success that they had to add a third day.

"We were just busy every single day," Vaughn said.

Knudson added that the bake sale and craft items were gone by the end of the second day, and many of the parents went home and made additional bake sale items after the first day.

Last year, Knudson added, the pumpkin patch sold about 400-450 pumpkins.

"We probably would have completely sold out, but the last day last year was so windy that things were blowing away. Even when we were closing, there were still cars coming," Knudson said.

The pumpkins that are available for purchase will not be priced by weight. Instead, they will be priced by size. Knudson said when people bring their pumpkins up to pay for them, they will set them next to a pumpkin of similar size with a predetermined price.

Bake sale, craft items and pumpkins weren't the only success the Pumpkin Patch saw. Knudson said the hay ride was also a success. Waiver forms were sent to all the families who wanted to participate in the hay ride and Knudson said they received 936 waiver forms.

There will be a new activity this year for families: a barrel train. Seven cars and a caboose will be available to ride in.

Last year, the event had a leaf box, Knudson said, and that will be upgraded this year to a leaf pool for kids to jump in.

"It's about four feet deep, 10 feet wide and it'll be full of leaves," Knudson added.

Raffle tickets are available all month long, Vaughn said. The drawing is Nov. 1 and people who purchase a raffle ticket do not have to be present for the drawing to win, Malsam added.

Knudson said they will be in the St. Jude Parish Center this year as well. The Parish Center will be used for the purchase of bake sale and craft items along with hot chocolate and coffee. Raffle tickets will be available to sale inside as well and attendees can also view the raffle items.

Raffle items include a supply of beef provided by Mike Tilleman and Tilleman Motor, a charcoal grill package which includes chairs, a cooler and a $100 gift card and a family game night basket which includes board games, snacks and four movie tickets.

Malsam said last year's Pumpkin Patch raised just less than $5,000 for St. Jude Thaddeus School. The funds went to purchasing a laminator for the teachers and for play ground equipment, Vaughn added.

She said they don't have a goal to reach and they do this so the community has something to do in the fall. Before the St. Jude's Pumpkin Patch, Vaughn said the closest Pumpkin Patch was in Big Sandy.

Knudson said while the participation from the community was great, where they would like to see more participation is with volunteers, although she understands that it is hard for people to commit for both days.

A signup sheet is available for people who do want to volunteer, she added. People can sign up for two hours or any amount of time. Community members can also visit the St. Jude Pumpkin Patch 2018 Facebook page and they can personal-message any of the three committee members and they will respond back.

"We would love any warm body," Malsam said. "Or just show up. We'll put you to work."

Havre High School cheerleaders will be at the event to do face painting and Montana State University-Northern basketball players will also be helping out.

The Knights of Columbus will be selling food from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and StrEATery will be selling food from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Knudson said she has taken into account the unpredictable weather should plans need to change.

"We're just hoping for nice weather," Knudson said. "We always have a plan B. If it's not nice weather we can go inside the gymnasium or Parish Center."

Knudson said what she likes about the Pumpkin Patch is that it brings everyone together from all over. She said people came from Glasgow and Great Falls.

Special needs children also attended the Pumpkin Patch last year, Vaughn added. She said they rode the hay ride and "had a blast."

"We are trying to make some money to help the school, but it's nice to give something back to the community," Vaughn said.

Malsam said she has been touched by the support from donors and those people who stepped up to help with the Pumpkin Patch.

Home and School would also like to thank Hi-Line Rental, Havre Home and Hardware, Patrick Construction, Jeremy and Alicia Hofman, Tony and Dixie English, Jim and Gloria Vosen and Clyde Dobeck, the committee members said.