Fairmont pumpkin patch promotes fall spirit
FAIRMONT — As the leaves begin to change and October begins to grow even closer, pumpkin patches are beginning to open their gates to the public to have some good old-fashioned fall fun.
Poplar Island Pumpkins located in Fairmont is gearing up for yet another season full of fall events for members of the public to enjoy. Gates officially open Sept. 13.
“Our admission is free to get in, so if you wanted to come in and let the kids run around the farm and take pictures, it’s free,” said Leslie Delapas, owner of Poplar Island Pumpkins. “We added a new playground area for the kids.”
The patch is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday leading up to Halloween, Delapas added.
Poplar Island Pumpkins offers a vast array of different activities for families to participate in, Delapas said.
“We have vendors usually every weekend,” she said. “Our vendors are here on Saturdays and Sundays. We also offer hayrides to our guests. On Friday nights, we have an extended hayride, our normal hayride is just a tour around the initial farm, but our extended hay rides on Friday night are about 20 to 30 minutes long and it goes along the Tygart Valley River.”
The farm, located on Poplar Island Road, is open Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m., Delapas added.
There are two different attractions which really draw people in, Delapas said.
“We have a corn maze and we have something no one else has, we have a haunted cryptid trail,” she said. “Such as Bigfoot and Mothman, they actually live here on the farm. We have all the cryptids that live in West Virginia on our trail.
“The trail itself is about a half mile long and it’s through a wooded area on our property. We give you a map and then you try to find all the West Virginia cryptids. Each one has their own little habitat area, and it’s just something fun and different to do.”
Delapas added all of the activities at Poplar Island Pumpkins are completely family friendly.
The corn maze is full of animatronics with fun jokes for the kids, Delapas noted.
Delapas described the environment of the patch as a fun place for the whole family.
“It’s kind of a fall festival vibe, and we just have fun with it,” she said. “It’s myself and my whole extended family, we all live on the farm. Everyone volunteers to help out, and we all just have a lot of fun with it.”
