NAFDMA member spotlight: Walters Pumpkin Patch

NAFDMA members come from across North America and even across the pond. Their farm direct & ag tourism businesses range from smaller, seasonal operations to large year-round establishments. 

We like to spotlight our members and this month our feature members are Becky and Carroll Walters from Walters Pumpkin Patch in Kansas.

Their tag line is "Where Fall Begins!" and you can visit them on-line  at  www.walterspumpkinpatch.com

Becky, how would you describe your business? In the past we have been a 6 week, fall agritourism destination. We have the u-pick pumpkin patch & gourds with all the unusual varieties that we grow here on our farm. We do the hay rides, designed corn maze, have a PumpGun Cannon which shoots an 8 lb pumpkin about 1/2 mile, the pedal cars, and pedal boats, Mountain Boo the underground slide, and a jumping pillow.

We are adding a mining adventure and graveyard golf this year. On Friday and Saturday evenings during October we convert the old grain elevator into a Haunted elevator, and offer a flashlight maze as well. We're not just a field of orange pumpkins, and we're not just for kids.

The Walters business though is morphing into a corporate gathering, wedding and reunion facility too during the spring and summer. We are one of the events for the national windmillers convention here in June, and have several weddings, and a class reunion coming up early this summer.

What is exciting you about the summer of 2009? We've outgrown our facility and are adding more for our visitors to do and see while they are here. Our growth is exciting for us, scarey, but exciting!

How long have you been a NAFDMA member? We joined NAFDMA the year they went to North Carolina if anyone can figure out when that was! (You shouldn't ask these questions of an old person!) It was 2003 Becky and you're not that old, you just have more important things on your brain this time of year. :)

Why do you belong to NAFDMA? We are getting to experience new places that we would never travel to by ourselves. And the people that are members are just the best of the best. (We agree!)

We have learned so much sitting on a bus, talking over dinner, or while visiting with a vendor at the trade show. NAFDMA is about the learning process, but it's people make it a great organization.

As a hobby pumpkin business many years ago, Carroll & I went to visit Weston Red Barn (Steve and Cindy Fry) to see what they did that made them so great. Steve spent over an hour with us just talking about their business and suggested we go to a NAFDMA conference. After showing Carroll the NAFDMA website, he finally agreed to "try the conference" and we were members ever since. Thanks again to Steve and Cindy for putting us onto the NAFDMA experience.

Your most unforgettable NAFDMA memory is ... probably the rock quarry that we visited in North Carolina. I thought it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen! I came back to Kansas wanting my husband to dig me a quarry!

Thank you Becky and Carroll, we hope your year is prosperous and healthy!