Another fun way to spend a few hours this fall is at Mikey’s Corn Maze on Feeding Hills Road (Rt. 57) near Powder Mill Road in Southwick. (File photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
SOUTHWICK – If you’re looking for some fall family fun, you don’t need to go far.
Southwick has numerous farms where picking pumpkins and taking a ride on a hay wagon are just some of the options for those who want to participate in New England’s autumn traditions.
At Moolicious Ice Cream on Feeding Hills Road, owner Joe Deedy wants to give a little spookiness to the season with a haunted house.
In the past, Deedy rented a portable haunted house for Halloween. When he moved to his current location and found out that haunted house was sold, he decided to keep the tradition and create his own place.
“We had great fun with the haunted house, so we took half of our back building and made a haunted house,” said Deedy. “We geared it towards kids and families.”
Deedy’s children Elizabeth, 18, and Ron, 21, are the main actors in the live attraction, along with employees and student actors from Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional High School (STGRHS).
Deedy said proceeds from the haunted house would benefit the Southwick Food Pantry and the STGRHS Class of 2013.
Deedy said until he first rented the haunted house a few years ago, he had no idea how popular Halloween had become.
“I didn’t realize how much people love Halloween,” he said, “it’s such a big holiday.”
Deedy said Halloween seems to be especially popular here.
“Southwick seems to love haunted things,” joked Deedy.
In addition to the haunted house, Moolicious is offering soft-serve pumpkin ice cream as well as maple cream ice cream made with maple syrup from Maple Corner Farm in Granville.
“We also have a train we will bring out for children and give them a ride up to our animals so they can see them,” said Deedy.
Moolicious is also hosting a pumpkin carving contest. Anyone who wants to test their carving skills can pick up a contest application at Moolicious and, on Oct. 27, bring their carved pumpkin back to the store for judging. Deedy said only one entry per family is allowed.
The haunted house at Moolicious is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays starting at 6 p.m.
At Blossoming Acres Farm on College Highway, there are thousands of pumpkins beckoning lovers of Halloween and fall. From the traditional round orange pumpkin perfect for carving, to pale green “Cinderella” pumpkins, Blossoming Acres has 20 acres of pumpkins to wow buyers and admirers alike.
Manager Tina Allen has worked at the farm and bakery for 17 years and said this is her favorite time of year.
“I love it,” she said. “People come with their families and take our free hayride over a creek and into the woods to our pumpkin fields, come back and have some hot mulled cider and donuts and just enjoy the day. It’s a lot of fun.”
Owners Jeff and Lenita Bober know a lot about pumpkins and use a particular kind of seed for their orange pumpkins.
“He uses the same one every year,” Allen said of Bober’s tried and true methods.
The owners and farm crew at Blossoming Acres do their best to ensure pumpkin perfection by turning every pumpkin in the patch to receive sunlight and grow evenly.
Over the past few years the demand for white pumpkins and the green pumpkins that resemble the one transformed into Cinderella’s coach have increased. But whether someone is in the market for a pumpkin to carve or to display on a table, everyone is in search of the perfect specimen, said Allen.
“We have people who decorate them with buttons and even rocks,” said Allen. “Of course people want to carve them – and they get really creative.”
Allen said people of all ages love pumpkins and Halloween.
“I don’t think it matters how old you are, carving pumpkins is part of fall,” she said.
Blossoming Acres is open from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. every day and offers free hayrides Saturdays and Sundays from 12-6 p.m.
Other options for purchasing and picking pumpkins in Southwick include Calabrese Farms on Feeding Hills Road, Pumpkin Valley Farm at 384 College Highway, Jasmine Gardens on College Highway, Coward Farm at 166 College Highway, and Ray’s Farm, also on College Highway.
Another fun way to spend a few hours this fall is at Mikey’s Corn Maze on Feeding Hills Road near Powder Mill Road.
Owner Mike Calabrese said this is his fourth season and every year he makes the maze a little bit more challenging.
“I hand cut the corn with a machete and a lawnmower, I don’t use a GPS like most mazes,” Calabrese said. “It allows me to make the maze more intricate and challenging for people.”
Once inside, visitors to Mikey’s will find numerous games to play while traversing the maze of maize.
“You can spend 45 minutes in there, or three hours,” he said. “It’s an inexpensive way to have a few hours of fun.”
Cost for the maze is $5 for children and $7 for adults.
Calabrese said he started the maze because his family, who own Calabrese Farm, already planted corn.
“It just seemed like a natural fit,” he said. “And I wanted to do something for children and families.”
Calabrese, 28, does not have children of his own but enjoys seeing his cousins and children of friends have fun at the maze.
“I do it because people really seem to like it,” Calabrese said.
Mikey’s Corn Maze is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 12-6 p.m. through Halloween. Calabrese will also have his miniature horse named Peanut at the maze for children to feed and pet.
For the older crowd who enjoys a bit of a fright during the Halloween season, Southwick Acres Campground offers a haunted hayride Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. through Halloween.
Michelle Ackerman of Southwick Acres said this is their third year hosting the spooky event.
“We always had a haunted house at our Sodom Mountain Campground for campers Columbus Day weekend and one year we opened it up to the public and it was great,” she said.
The hayride was an extension of that event and is open to the public. Young actors from area high schools, including Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional and Agawam High, perform live throughout the ride.
“They have different scenes set up – it’s pretty scary,” Ackerman said.
While Ackerman did not give away too many secrets, she did say those with arachnophobia should beware.
The campground makes a donation to the various schools’ drama organizations for their scream-worthy acting efforts.
The haunted hayride is $10 per person, with a $2 coupon available at www.hauntingyouon202.com for Friday nights. It is not recommended for young children.
Whatever your autumnal pleasure, Southwick is sure to have something for everyone.
