Hunt's Grandview Orchard
More than picking the perfect pumpkin
Jenny Francka
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White gravel crunches underneath rolling car tires as families arrive and take in the sounds and smells of an inexpensive, family-oriented fall experience.
Hunt's Grandview Orchard opened up shop in Amazonia, Mo., in 1971 with a free hayride out to a small field scattered with pale orange pumpkins. Thirty-six years later, the orchard provides activities, making for a day-long event.
Employees stand in theme attire, smiling at their designated stations as kids and adults take advantage of bow and arrow shooting, a grass maze, hay maze, face painting, a petting farm and an obstacle course.
Families ride on the hayride under a cracked wooden sign that reads "Sherwood Forest," home of Robin Hood, the 2007 theme.
"It's grown so much over the years because it just started out as free hayrides to a pumpkin patch," co-manager Brenda Carneal said. "We've added a little something every year because we can't just make money off selling pumpkins."
The new developments draw customers in year after year, leaving ticket booth employees' hands moving non-stop.
"We've had days where both ticket booths have lines that lead out into the parking lot," Carneal said. "On our good days though, we usually have about 800 people a day…last year we had our busiest day ever with 1,200 people."
A small fee of $2.50 pays for one person to run through the mazes, take a hayride and pet the animals.
Rows of fresh orange pumpkins sit nestled behind skinny trees where kids search for pumpkins, looking for the best and heaviest ones. Pumpkins are weighed and priced by the pound.
"This experience is so much more fun that just picking out a pumpkin from a box at the grocery store," St. Joseph, Mo. resident Teresa Gilmore said. "We've been bringing our family here for years and I've been bringing my daughter (who now has kids) since she can remember."
All of the fun, however, requires thirty to forty paid employees, nearly all of them family or church friends from town.
"When I hire one member of a family, it seems like I have to hire all of them," co-manager John Carneal said. "Most of us all go to church together and then just come to work after church."
Families come and go throughout the years as people of all ages continue to come annually. Employees love seeing parents hold their small children's hands as they waddle through the hay maze and storm through the obstacle course.
"We just love to see families enjoy each others company and it's nice for us because it only last for five weekends in October," employee Jenan Myers said.
After a sunny, breezy day out in the fall air, an assortment of specialty items are offered in the quaint and dimly lit store situated at the orchard entrance. Soft music plays over the hum of the freezers and the footsteps of intrigued customers.
Apple butter, Amish candy, jam, nuts, pumpkins and popcorn are just a few things that line the shelves. Whether it's in the store where people feel like home or out in the pumpkin patch, employees at Hunt's Grandview Orchard make sure it all comes back to family.
"I give my husband the credit for the brains behind it and God the glory because He enables us to do this," Brenda said. "It's a lot of work that people don't realize we put into it, but worth it to see families come together in this environment."
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