A fall tradition

Sowing the seeds of the season

Story by Cindy Aguirre-Herrera Photos by Lizz Daniels

The three most popular places in Seguin might as well be HEB, Walmart and The Pumpkin Patch. That’s how legendary the lawn of First United Methodist Church has become throughout these past 27 years of hosting Seguin’s very own pumpkin patch each October. The patch known for welcoming thousands of families from the start of October to midnight Oct. 31 has become more than just a holiday favorite, it’s become a tradition. The patch is open seven days a week at the church located at 710 N. Austin St from dusk to dawn.

Before taking a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to host the patch, Seguin Today is sharing a few facts behind its history. The then church youth director Katie Arnold brought the idea home in 1995. The partnership was and still is with Pumpkins USA. Pumpkins USA has been helping churches and non-profits like FUMC host patches since 1974. However, after Hurricane Hugo wiped out the crop from its original farming location in North Carolina in 1989, the organization moved its crop production to the Navajo Indian Nation in New Mexico. Today, close to 2,000 loose pumpkins –- that fill up two 18-wheelers – are delivered to Seguin. A variety of pumpkins and gourds are received within a few days of being harvested and are trucked to the local church for unloading.

Perhaps what is most unique about this partnership between FUMC, and Pumpkins USA is the trust built into the deal. Pumpkins are delivered with no contract or legal proceedings. It’s merely a handshake and trust that those pumpkins will be sold, and money will be collected. It’s the faith and assurances that FUMC will be “diligent in selling their pumpkins, honest in reporting their sales and attentive” to paying Pumpkins USA its percentage of sales. What initially started as a fundraiser for the youth ministry is now a church-wide effort with proceeds going to several church programs and community-wide organizations.

Layered on top of that foundation of trust is the people and volunteers at FUMC who today work harder and harder to continue this rare and unique way of doing business for the common good.

Photo by Lizz Daniels

Terry Webb, who has served on the pumpkin committee since 1999, says the pumpkin patch is truly the heart of the community each fall.

Although, it’s quite a large operation now, Webb says it’s still centered in creating those special family memories.

“One family from Dallas and another from Houston and they meet here for a family reunion, and they always take their pictures here. I was going through the files, looking at the pictures of the children who have grown up in the patch – the Holt Family girls (Kamdyn and Keaghan) have been photographed every year in the patch with the exception of 2020. I’ve got the ones where they were two years old all the way to when they were 17 and then I found a picture of Hunter Hewell as a toddler leaning over trying to pick up a huge pumpkin and now, he is an attorney here in Seguin. Children in our community have just grown up in the pumpkin patch,” said Webb. “The heart of it is reaching out to the community and always having someone there to smile and say ‘hi, welcome to the patch and if you need help taking pictures – as long as I can use your cellphone, I can take the picture.”

Some of the most precious moments in a person’s life have also forever been rooted in the patch.

“We’ve had one young couple, he popped the question and then the next year, they had wedding photos and then a few years down the line, they brought their newborn baby to be placed in a big old pumpkin for a photo. It’s making happy memories around a vegetable called a pumpkin,” said Webb.

Over the most recent years, the patch, however, has become more than a photo backdrop. Webb says it’s become a childhood favorite.

Photo by Lizz Daniels

“We’ve always had story time, but we observed in other pumpkin patches that a lot of community schools would come for story time, and we said, ‘well, we can do that.’ It was a low cost field trip like from Weinert, from Ball and at the time from Juan Seguin – these three and little four year-olds could walk to the patch, get some fresh air, get a pumpkin, hear a story, learn about pumpkins and then walk back to their classes and then, we had a new leader that was more into explaining all the growth and the ins and outs of the science of pumpkins and so we really developed learning centers. It was no longer just a place to buy a pumpkin, a place to take your pictures, it was a learning opportunity for the children of Seguin, Marion, La Vernia, Navarro and all around,” said Webb.

The pumpkins, of course, aren’t the only things that attract plenty of attention at the patch. Webb says creating those family memories wouldn’t be made possible without the creative holiday pieces that outline the church lawn. Webb says behind those scarecrows and custom photo areas is Vicki Spradling, a longtime committee member and creative brainchild for the patch.

“Vicki has been incredible. Once, she caught the Orange Fever, she was very feverish with it. She thinks about it all year long and creates things -- the scarecrows and the signs and she put hours upon hours both physically and mentally about ways to enhance the appearance and how we can best serve the community. She has been an incredible asset once she joined the team several years back,” said Webb.

Spradling says she has enjoyed piecing together the props for the patch and coming up with new concepts each year. However, she says in order to be ready; her work must begin in June.

“I started just the first few years just setting up and maybe going in and sitting there at the table and working with customers. I come from a background of 30 plus years doing craft shows and I’ve always been a creative person. That’s just how God made me. I just have this mind and I’m like ‘oh, we can do this, or we can do that,” said Spradling. “The first couple of years, I took all the scarecrows home with me and just fluffed them up and I was like we can do better than this. I was like no, next year, I’m just going to make new scarecrows and each year, I got a little more brazen and then the next thing I know, they were asking me ‘where do you think we should put this?’ And, so then I was kind of directing where they put things. I was kind of directing them and arranging the patch and then each year, I’ve just done more and more and then for three years, I was patch chairman and boy I took over then.”

If you ask her, Spradling says every day of the year is a day to dream of the patch.

“For me, I’ve always said, ‘if I can dream about it, I can make it,’” said Spradling.

Photo by Lizz Daniels

Spradling, known for spending hours in her craft and woodworking shop preparing for the patch, says the time dedicated to this effort is truly a passion – a passion that she hopes resonates with folks every time a family takes a trip to the patch.

“Just know that everything that is there in the pumpkin patch is for them and it’s made with love, and it’s love that I feel comes from God. I get excited when we sell a lot of pumpkins and when our numbers are really good because I know where that money goes. It goes out to all these different ministries in the community so I’m excited about that, but it’s never been for me -- the money or about the selling of the pumpkins. It’s about sharing this love with our community and the outreach that our church has for this community. So, I want them to know that when they come to the pumpkin patch, they don’t have to buy a pumpkin. It’s nice if they do but I want them to come and make the family memories,” said Spradling.

Like Spradling, Webb says the other batch of volunteers that come together to host the patch is just phenomenal. Of course, she also gives kudos to an ongoing core of folks who each year have an ongoing role in making sure the tradition returns year after year.

“It’s an interesting group of people that have Orange Fever. Bill Hughson is a businessman, and he has the big picture and makes sure that all the entities are being taken care of. He understands the business angle of it in making sure that the money is done just so. Vicki has the creative part. I have been involved with the recruiting of volunteers. We each have our niches. My husband likes to figure out how to put out the pallets. It’s just interesting how it all comes together,” said Webb.

Webb says what some folks might also not know is that pumpkins are never thrown out. She says all are put to good use.

“Those that do start spoiling, we put them aside and different hog farmers or deer feeders – I’m not sure who it all is, they come by and pick up all the poopy ones and take them away, so we don’t have messes in the patch. There’s a constant calling in the patch in keeping everything fresh but yet, the ones that do go bad benefit the farmers in the area,” said Webb.

Webb says to be a part of such a trusting and dynamic partnership with Pumpkins USA is what in the ends helps make the benefits come full circle. She says it’s a gift of giving, trust and a true reflection of Christ.

“That trust thing where Pumpkins USA says how many pumpkins and what kind and we say what we want, they deliver it on trust, and we simply fulfill our part, and they fulfill their part. There is no reason for that to stop working because it just works,” said Webb.

Today, the lawn is a sea of orange – a color that Webb says she hopes never fades away and is marked for generations to come.

“I hope that it will always continue because there is always a need for children to see something that is wholesome and good and be a part of something that helps other people,” said Webb. •

Photo by Lizz Daniels