Pomeroy Farm’s Pumpkin Lane delights, ‘telling stories’

YACOLT — On an unseasonably warm October morning, the Hokanson family’s three children ooh-ed and aah-ed at the painted pumpkins scattered around the grounds at Pomeroy Farm.

Gwen, 6, perched atop a hay bale in a trailer being dragged behind a tractor Saturday, where she called out the familiar characters these “Pumpkin people” are dressed to imitate.

“It’s Charlie Brown! It’s Snow White! It’s a wedding!”

Then, in awe, she yelled, “They’re telling stories! They’re actually telling stories!”

The Hokansons joined dozens of other families at Pumpkin Lane at the historical north county farm Saturday, seeking a quiet but fun family activity.

“It’s more low-key,” than other pumpkin patches, father Mike Hokanson said.

And that’s part of the point, according to fifth-generation Pomeroy family member, Maura Todd. They’re not going for spooky or high energy at Pumpkin Lane, an annual pumpkin patch and fall festival running every weekend in October. This is a wholesome, family-friendly event in a historical setting, featuring yard games, a small hay-bale maze and the eponymous Pumpkin Lane, a mile-long hay ride featuring more than 90 pumpkins dressed as characters.

“We are a lot of people’s fall tradition,” Todd said.

As a nonprofit organization, Pomeroy Farm also uses this annual event as a major fundraiser, Todd said. Children from schools across the Vancouver-Portland metro area visit this working farm, meeting animals, churning their own butter and learning what it means to live off the land.

That’s a big deal for children who may not have a sense of where their food comes from or how it’s produced, Todd said.

“It is so amazing how detached kids are from that way of living,” Todd said.

In a sunny field, 9-year-old Zach Faulkner was getting a taste of farming himself. He threw a rope lasso at a small wooden bull, wrangling the animal with his 6-year-old sister, Ella.

The children’s parents, Andy and Sarah Faulker, said they’ve driven by the farm many times but never stopped by before.

“We always do a pumpkin patch, and it was a nice sunny day,” Sarah Faulkner said.

Zach and Ella appreciated this weekend’s fine fall weather, too. When asked his favorite part of the season, Zach planted his fists on his hips and contemplated for a minute.

“Probably how pretty it is,” he said before running off to play corn hole with his sister.