photo by Marcus Frazier

Aubry Adair and her daughter Mary Hunter, 5, search for a pumpkin in Jefferson Street Methodist Church’s Pumpkin Patch Sunday afternoon.

Parking lot pumpkins pull passersby

By Brian Reynolds (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Monday, October 13, 2008

NATCHEZ — Mary Hunter Adair, 5, pulled her wagon around the western parking lot of Jefferson Street United Methodist Church, when the biggest pumpkin in the patch caught her eye.

Although she could not pick it up on her own, she was able to take it and several of the other bright orange fruits home from the church preschool’s pumpkin sale.

The sale, which is fundraiser for the school, was very successful last year, Preschool Director Lisa Falkenheiner said.

“We just kind of did it as a trial (last year) and we had a lot of success so we decided to do it again,” Falkenheiner said. “There’s really nothing like this in town.”

The sale had a lot of success on its opening day, especially from church members who purchased pumpkins as they left service. But adults were not the only ones to buy them. Falkenheiner’s 9-year-old son is also looking forward to carving jack-o-lanterns.

“He already has three that he bought with his own money at home,” she said.

Falkenheiner is expecting even more purchases next weekend when the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race comes to town.

“When people were out in the morning chasing balloons we sold a lot,” she said of last year’s sale.

And that money is big boost to the school.

“We just wanted to have money in the bank to do things to our playground, give teachers bonuses at Christmas, just a cushion basically,” she said.

Last year they used the money to buy bicycles, new playground equipment and a playhouse, and are hoping to do the more of same this year.

The pumpkin sale will be open until Oct. 27. The pumpkins are priced according to size and cost from between $1 for a winged gourd and up to $18 for pumpkins like the one that caught Mary Hunter Adair’s eye.