After a year off, hundred of pumpkins have returned to the Bow Mills United Methodist Church.
The annual pumpkin fundraiser was scratched last year because of the pandemic, but pallets upon pallets of pumpkins and gourds of all sizes are back out for sale in front the church at 505 South St.
Darlene Hill was one of the people who started the sale 15 years ago when her daughters were still in school.
“My granddaughter took her first turn on the pumpkin patch this year,” Hill said. “She had one of the little pumpkins here with the stems, carrying it around. She’s just 14 months old. So it’s another generation of the pumpkin patch.”
The pumpkins, which are sold according to their size, not their weight, are trucked here from New Mexico and nearly sell out each year.
“People wait for us to have our pumpkins,” Hill said.
Anything that doesn’t sell winds up being donated to a farm.
“Whatever is leftover, we usually donate to a pig farmer,” Hill said. “The pigs have a wonderful meal, they love them. I guess pigs love pumpkins.”
The pumpkin patch is open Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 5 p.m.
All proceed from the pumpkin sales go to three local non-profits: the Friends of Forgotten Children, the New Hampshire Food Bank and Family Promise of Greater Concord.