"State Fair of pumpkin season" gets spooky for final push of 2022
WYOMING, Minn. -- Hundreds of families celebrated the Halloween festivities one day early Sunday during a trick-or-treat celebration in the north metro.
For the final day of its full 2022 season, Pinehaven Farm welcomed crowds of happy customers to their fall paradise filled with ziplines, apple shooters, animals, corn pits and more.
"(It's a) huge space. We have 20 acres that our attractions are spanned across," said Meredith Hastings of Pinehaven Farm. "Some of our customers have coined us the 'state fair of pumpkin season' this year."
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The farm featured a one-of-a-kind trick-or-treat scavenger hunt Sunday.
"We love the idea of being a part of any family's fall traditions," Hastings said. "One of the things that really got to me this year - we had a mom and dad come out... we do a pumpkin eating dragon show with my husband. We had a couple of parents come out and say 'We've got to go see the dragons! I used to that when I was a kid!' That's when it really hit us - we're generational with some of these traditions."
"I grew up with the family that owns this," Phil Osterbauer said. "I've worked with them a little bit. Me and my wife even had our reception here when we got married."
Osterbauer, who took his family to the farm Sunday, said it's become a place his family can enjoy year after year.
"We just came out here to have some fun," he said. "(My kids) like the corn pit the most. We've been out here three times and that's been their main focus."
"One of the things that really motivates us year after year is just the involvement in the community," Hastings said. "Having the space for families to come out and create their family traditions, take their Christmas cards each year. That's something that really fills our bucket in a big way."