THUNDER BAY – This weekend was the second-last week of Gammondale Farm’s 28th Pumpkinfest, an annual festival that takes place over six weekends every fall.
Gammondale Farm owner Sue Gammond, says that it’s been a wonderful time so far with families and young people coming out and enjoying the many attractions as well as photo opportunities.
“The fall is a wonderful time to get out and be in the country and [to have] families come to be with each other and enjoy the animals that we have and the little activities that we have like the pumpkin train and the Straw Mountain,” she said.
“We have a catapult, think it's the largest one in Canada and right now we have the largest horse named Ike he's the largest horse in northwestern Ontario... I think people like to come and spend time with their families and buy pumpkins and interestingly, we have a lot of young people, not small children but young adults who come and I think what they're doing is taking pictures and selfies and just plain having fun.”
Gammond says one of the more interesting things about Pumpkinfest is that former young student workers who had worked at the farm over the years returning, sometimes with families of their own.
“When you come to Pumpkinfest, or even if you come anytime of the year, usually you see a lot of young students, with the youngest ones that we have today are nine years old, and they're not volunteers; they get paid a small wage, It's not a big wage, of course, but they do get paid,” she said.
“The little girl today who's nine is taking photos of people up in our hayloft... We have some students who are as old as 18 and 19; They've been coming for a long time, and they do some of the jobs that require a little bit more responsibility. That's why the festival works because we have lots of young students.”
Pumkinfest attendees also have the option of donating to support the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre during their time at the festival.
There’s still one weekend left of the festival and anybody who wishes to attend can buy tickets online for the weekend of Oct. 29 and 30.
