By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
GREAT VALLEY — Pumpkinville opens for its 29th season at its current location at 2844 Sugartown Road, Great Valley, on Saturday, Sept. 14, with more new attractions.
Owners Dan and Diane Pawlowski, their adult children Lisa and Jim, and a crew of more than 100 people have been working to get things ready for Saturday’s opening.
Last Thursday, the first wagon of small and medium size just-picked pumpkins was brought in to build a Pumpkinville display. The bigger ones kids will pick through were brought in later.
Hundreds of pumpkins will be ready for kids to select when Pumpkinville opens for the 2024 season. It is open 7 a.m.-9 p.m. daily until Halloween.
“The pumpkins are very nice this year,” said Dan Pawlowski. “We’ve had plenty of rain and warm weather.”
Lisa Pawlowski has been brought in as a full time member of the Pumpkinville team this year. She has been handling much of the retail sales shops for many years. Diane oversees the bakery and other areas.
After teaching for 18 years, Lisa quit her job as a middle school science teacher at Ellicottville to come work full time on the farm. “I went to college for crop production and soil science. Now I’m one of the management team.” She’s coordinator of the Pumpkinville website and logos and works closely with the marketing team.
When her parents bought Pumpkinville from the Hollorans who operated it for a long time on Route 98, they moved it to its present location on Sugartown Road not far from Route 98. “My first job was making candy apples and popcorn. Her high school art class helped make scarecrows.
Pumpkinville is teaming up with Guinness record holder Erie Jones for three classes and two demonstrations this fall. The classes are Sept. 20, Oct., 4 and Oct. 18. Two demonstrations are set Sept. 29 and Oct. 20. The Oct. 18 class is a sip and carve class. Register early on the Pumpkinville website.
The biggest new attraction at Pumpkinville this year is the Corn Barn, a 48-foot by 96-foot building that houses a 32-foot by 72-foot bin filled with 285 tons of shelled corn kernels and digging equipment for kids to move mountains of corn.
“The grandkids are in here steady,” Dan Pawlowski said. “We think it will be a hit with the kids.”
The Pawlowskis also purchased an antique McCormick-Deering tractor with steel wheels in Wisconsin through Facebook Marketplace. They had it shipped to Chicago to a company that modifies items for attractions like Pumpkinville. It is now an interactive antique tractor you start with a crank Dan Pawlowski thinks will be popular.
Another new attraction, Henway Piano, lets kids and others walk on piano keys to produce different notes sung by hens in the henhouse.
Another popular attraction is the cider mill, which presses apples to make Pumpkinville cider. The first run will be Wednesday. After that, cider is pressed each Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
There is a new admission policy at Pumpkinville this year. There is no admission to the front yard farm market, retail shops and food areas.
A pass is required to go to the activities area in the back farm yard. Online purchase is available ranging in price from $13 during the week to $16.50 Friday through Sunday.
The Barnyard Blast passes offers unlimited use for one person per day of 35 family fun activities including the Pumpkin Jumping Pillows, Fun Zone including the Corn Pit, Cow Train, Corn Maze, Hayride, Happy Horse Carousel and Pumpkinville Express Train.
Season passes are available for $39.95 and the website offers a buy one get one offer.
