Oak Park Gardeners to sell pumpkins

By Lori Porter Acorn Staff Writer

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn TEAM EFFORT--Dean Burnett, left, Kate Frankson, Bobby Weisman, Kathren Pearce, Timmie High and Adriane Lubin are just some of the residents hosting a Pumpkin Patch Sale on Fri., Oct. 17 through Sun., Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the corner of Kanan Road and Sunnycrest Drive in Oak Park. The sale is a fundraiser for the Oak Park Gardeners, who are raising money to start a community garden in Oak Park. Their community garden will be accessible only to participants.

You can already feel it in the air. Fall is fast approaching and that means pumpkins. Residents won’t have to travel far to buy them this year because the Oak Park Gardeners are having a Pumpkin Patch Sale near Kanan Road and Sunnycrest, which is also the site of the future Oak Park Community Garden.

The Pumpkin Patch Sale will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fri., Oct. 17 through Sun., Oct. 19. Organizers promise there will be plenty of pumpkins to choose from and they’ll be sold by size. Also on sale will be Halloween decorations. Soft drinks and cider will also be available, according to organizers.

A large pumpkin grown by Kate Frankson of Oak Park will be sold to somebody with a strong back. It’s estimated to weigh about 70 pounds.

The Pumpkin Patch Sale is a fundraiser for the Oak Park Gardeners, a nonprofit gardening group that’s establishing a community garden in Oak Park.

The community garden will exist through memberships that allow participants to rent plots of land and then plant and cultivate flowers, herbs or vegetables. Encroaching or illegal plants are unacceptable. The garden will be fenced and gated, and only members will have access with a key or combination lock.

It’s expected that some members will plant vegetables while others will concentrate on flowers. Gardening is fun and good for fitness, and the site should also beautify Oak Park.

The Pumpkin Patch Sale is the first of its kind for Oak Park, and the Oak Park Gardeners are excited about it. Many Oak Park residents have been growing pumpkins to sell at the fundraiser. Tom and Karen Schott, who raise and sell pumpkins in Fillmore, have also offered to haul in truckloads of pumpkins and split the profits with the Oak Park Gardeners.

A sign that promotes the sale, made by the students of a sign design class at West Valley Occupational Center, can be seen near Kanan and Sunnycrest. The sign was a final project for students last summer.

For more information about the community garden, please call Dean Burnett at (818) 889-3533.