Fall traditions: Straw mazes, pumpkin patches opening
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 1 month AGO
Rowan Fajardo shows off he pumpkins she picked for her very own in the pumpkin patch at Mickle Farms Saturday. It's the season of pumpkin patches and straw mazes.
Cheryl Schweizer/Sun Tribune
Poppy Christensen, Royal City, shows off her very own pumpkin from the pumpkin patch at Mickle Farms near Royal City. With fall officially here and Halloween approaching, it's the season of pumpkin patches and straw mazes.
Andi Albertson, Eagle Mountain, Utah, checks out the big pumpkins on the way to the patch at Mickle Farms to find her own personal pumpkin. She is accompanied by her grandmother Kelly Albertson, Royal City.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | September 30, 2020 1:00 AM
ROYAL CITY — One of the signs of fall is the pumpkin patch, and one of the signs of Halloween is the straw maze. Fall is here, Halloween is not far away, and the season of straw mazes and pumpkin patches has begun around Othello and Royal City.
The COVID-19 outbreak scrambled and canceled a lot of events this year, including the Othello Rodeo. But the rodeo committee is still putting on its straw maze, and even expanding it in 2020.
The straw maze will open Oct. 2 and 3 and has expanded its schedule to be open every weekend in October. The non-scary maze is open from 6 to 7 p.m. each night, with the scary stuff from 7 to 10 p.m.
Rodeo association president Ken Dockins said the maze is divided into rooms, each with a different theme. The volunteers that staff the maze are called “scarers,” and they work to live up to the name.
“We like to make (customers’) hearts beat a little faster,” Dockins said.
The organizers are taking some of the most popular displays from the last decade and using them as the starting point for 2020, Dockins said.
The organizers will be playing Halloween movies on a big screen in the parking lot, Dockins said. Movies for children will be presented between 6 and 7 p.m., and classic horror movies from the 1930s through 1950s will be on the screen between 7 and 10 p.m.
The straw maze is located at the Othello Rodeo arena, 821 Reynolds Road in Othello. Admission is $10 per person. Children six years of age and younger are admitted free with a supervising adult.
The Mickle Farms U-pick pumpkin patch near Royal City opened last weekend and will be open from 3 to 6 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday through October, and from 9 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The owners, Dan and Nicole Mickle, planted two acres of pumpkins and ornamental gourds. The patch is located off Road E Southwest but doesn’t have a street address. Directions are available on Mickle Farms’ social media.
The Country Cousins fruit stand also has a U-pick pumpkin patch, opening Oct. 3. Owner Steve Freeman said a number of other events are scheduled as well. Country Cousins is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and is located at 1901 W. Hatton Road in Othello.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
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