Locally grown pumpkins sold at South Elgin fall festival

Sixteen years ago, Shane Hamilton's father, Ken, began to take issue with the price of pumpkins at large purveyors, according to his son.

"My dad's family was farmers and he knows how cheap it is to grow pumpkins. So he knew they shouldn't cost that much," Hamilton said.

Hamilton, the superintendent of South Elgin Parks and Recreation, approached local farmer Mike Kenyon.

"The idea was that some of these big box pumpkin sellers and farms are expensive," Hamilton said. "My idea was to offer a pumpkin for a reasonable price, grown in South Elgin, and sold in South Elgin."

Kenyon, who said he's been a farmer "forever," doesn't recall the meeting, but he must have agreed because for 16 years, in addition to corn and soybeans, he's grown pumpkins on a farm his great-grandfather bought in 1873 and passed down through the family over the years.

When asked about pointers for growing the best pumpkins, Kenyon said, "It's Mother Nature. We fertilize them with the same thing we fertilize everything else."

When it's harvest time, South Elgin High School's football players meet with members of the Parks and Recs team to pick the pumpkin crop.

"We harvest them with the help of South Elgin High School," Hamilton said. "The football program provides a ton of labor for us. They send between 40 and 60 football players and they do most of the harvesting for us."

According to Kenyon, his farm is just 900 yards from the high school in South Elgin. He also farms land in DeKalb and west Kane County.

"The football coach thought it was a good thing for his people to do. They've adopted it as a project," Kenyon said. "It's kind of nice that South Elgin High School wants to help out, so it's a kind of a community event."

The pumpkins are transported to SEBA Park in South Elgin for the annual Pumpkin Patch festival. They'll be sold there for $2 to $5, depending on size.

On Saturday, Oct. 7, the festivities kick off at 9 a.m. Highlights include a haystack built for children to climb, a petting zoo, which charges for feed, Touch a Truck, trolley rides with the purchase of any pumpkin and pony rides, which are $2 a ride. A food truck will also be on hand. Warm apple cider and apple cider doughnuts will be available for purchase.

Numbered raffle tickets will be available for an event called the Pumpkin Plunge.

"We sell little gourds and we number them and float them down the river as a race, and then we do first, second and last places and they get some money for that," Hamilton said. "We do this as a fundraiser for the Fundation, (a fund for South Elgin-related programs.)"

The event is weather-dependent, according to Hamilton.

"If it's a nice day, I'll bet you we have 750 to 1,000 people and 700 pumpkins."

Autumn weather can't be implicitly trusted, so there is Plan B in case of rain.

"It's rain or shine," said Hamilton. "We will be out there selling pumpkins, whether it rains or not. If it's a complete loss with lightning and thunder, Facebook and the village website will announce the closing and we will open during the week just to sell pumpkins."

Hamilton encourages everyone to come out and enjoy the fall fun at a bargain price.

"You can come down, get a snack, and each get a pumpkin for less than $20," he said.

If you go

What: South Elgin Pumpkin Patch and Fall Festival

When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7

Where: SEBA Park, 151 Water St., South Elgin

Admission: Free. Pumpkins will be on sale for $2, $3, or $5, depending on size.

Details: <a href="http://www.southelgin.com/index.asp?SEC=01333C8E-AF26-4700-B99B-78E47A8C631A&DE=F18E9D6B-78E1-485E-BFD1-EF2F052C9AFC">www.southelgin.com</a>