By Lauren Schiavone
Hometown Weekly Staff
Located conveniently off Main Street in Walpole, Epiphany Parish looks especially festive this fall season. Pumpkins of varying colors and sizes appear everywhere across the property, marking the return of the Epiphany Parish Pumpkin Patch. Every year, the beautiful display draws visitors and pumpkin-shoppers in; families, friends, and first-time visitors all snap a quick photo, as the pumpkin patch really is too picturesque not to share.
Thousands of pumpkins, gourds, and some festive baked goods are for sale at the tent and on the parish lawn. The event is made possible by the parish teaming up with Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers, a company that acquires pumpkins from Farmington, New Mexico, on a Native Navajo reservation. The parish’s lawn is home to thousands of pumpkins that employ over a thousand Navajos, with the money benefiting their reservation, as well.
Joined by Alison DiPasca, fellow parish member and event organizer Corwin Hee delighted in speaking with visitors about the pumpkin patch, through which Epiphany Parish raises the bulk of its program funding.
“It’s a beautiful day. It’s a great community event, I really enjoy the families that come out here and take a picture. That couple over there, it’s the first time they’re going out with their three-month-old baby. It’s a nice way for us to get together,” Hee remarked after he sprinted across the lawn to grab a wagon to make it easier for a family to store their pumpkins. Attentive to each individual visitor's journey to the pumpkin patch, Hee was able to connect in a genuine way.
“This is an annual event," he continued. "It’s one of our main fundraisers for the church. We’ve almost become known for it every year. We hope more people can come out and share it with us.”
The Epiphany Parish Pumpkin Patch runs throughout the month of October, open Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. and weekdays from noon to 6 p.m. An off-hours honor box is also placed outside on the lawn of 62 Front Street.
