{"id":4885,"date":"2019-11-12T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T17:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/?page_id=4885"},"modified":"2019-11-12T12:23:39","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T17:23:39","slug":"coconut-groves-pumpkin-patch-festival-draws-both-residents-and-visitors","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/?page_id=4885","title":{"rendered":"Coconut Grove’s Pumpkin Patch Festival draws both residents, visitors to the fun"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Posted\nNovember 12, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\nSHANIKA ISAACS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small children scream with the thrill of enjoyment on their faces. Couples excitedly take pictures, posing adorably for a camera. I smiled at the sight of their pleasure, each moment breaking waves of compassion in my heart. Family members cheering on their kids from the sidelines of each ride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfeeling of adventure and charisma, was the aroma of the atmosphere around me.\nAn overwhelming array of bright oranges, greens and light browns could be seen everywhere.\nEach booth representing something new, an activity for everyone to take part\nin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parents cheer on their kids as they slide down the Fun Slide ride (Photos by Shanika Isaacs).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Pumpkin Patch Festival is an annual event celebration at Coconut Grove\u2019s Peacock Park, that attracted local tourists and people of all ages, to take part in the festivities of the season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2019 event was the perfect time to get an early start at pumpkin picking and celebrating the moment with close friends and families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt Promo Moxie Inc., we aim at bringing fall to sunny places like Florida. To get people in the groove of experiencing a different season and what it would look like,\u201d Carolina Sanchez, the event’s managing director, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along\nthe trail to the entrance of the festival, I was greeted by two security guards\nwho kindly led me to the volunteering tent. I quickly introduced myself to the\nhost and stated who I was volunteering with, a guide that I received from my\nchurch, in my email upon signing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMiami\nChurch is on the other side of here, on the further end to the right,\u201d Mark\nAnthony, the traffic director, said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nI digested the directions on where to go, I decided to use the extra time I had\nsince I was early, before reporting to my tent. I really wanted a brief moment\nto explore my surroundings and to check out some of the attractions I was\ninitially told about.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur festival has 5,600 pumpkins, all incorporated in the different festivities. Some of the attractions for this year\u2019s event will be the Pumpkin Patch, which is a designated area for people to pick out which pumpkins they want to take home. Carnival, where all of the festival rides are for both adults and kids. We also have Fall Photo Vignettes, Scarecrow Village, Pumpkin Decorating Events, Corn Maze, Pumpkin Beer Bar and the Pumpkin Food Court,\u201d Sanchez said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs\na team of two people, my co-worker and I take pride in hosting this event and\nwe look forward in planning it every year. We get visitors each year from all\nover, especially the early birds who come down from up North, for the winter\nseasons,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over by the Pumpkin Patch, I saw hundreds of pumpkins laid out along the edge of the fenced area. In the middle of the perimeter was a huge display of pumpkins, decorated with unique looking scare crows, with the potential of an Instagram photo shoot. As families gathered around the pumpkins, you could hear them coaching their little ones on how to pose and later advising them on which pumpkin to choose for taking home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCome\non Michael, say \u2018cheese\u2019 for mommy,\u201d a parent said as she smiled herself\nreflecting the action she conveyed.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not\ntoo far away was the Corn Maze, where parents waited in-line for their kids to\nenter the maze. As the sun pelted on the skins of those in-line, the discomfort\nof every adult was obvious, in contrast with the thrill and excitement that\nbeamed in the eyes and general expression of their children. Sounds of laughter\nand screams were heard from the maze, as kids ran around desperately trying to\nfind the other end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\nthis way Tommy,\u201d I heard a little girl say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo!\nIt\u2019s the other way,\u201d Tommy yelled back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\n3:45 p.m., I made my way over to Miami Church\u2019s booth, where I found out what\nwe were doing for the day. It turns out we were, wait for it, face painting. Cristel\nGuaico, Miami Church\u2019s operations director, greeted me with a smile when she\nsaw me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she beckoned me over to her seat, she gave me a quick rundown of all the sample designs and the location of the brushes, among other things that I might need further along the way. Before I was able to register all that was said, my thoughts were immediately interrupted by someone asking me a question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre\nyou ready?\u201d Ralph Junior, another one of our volunteers, asked as he rested his\nhand on a little girl\u2019s shoulder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nnervously looked at Guaico before she kindly said, \u201cYou will be fine. Don\u2019t\nworry about it. Just try your best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lele poses for the camera after celebrating how beautiful her rainbow looks.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

 As the little girl walked over, she was\naccompanied by her mother who ushered her to sit in the chair before me. It was\nonly then that I was able to see a long line of parents waiting with their kids\nto get their face painted. I gave both her mother and the litter girl a polite\nsmile, before asking what her name was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\nLele,\u201d she said proudly, \u201cI want a big rainbow.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nI flipped through the clipboard of designs, I showed Lele two distinct rainbows\nthat I believed best fit her description. She immediately radiated with acts of\npleasure, as she repeatedly shook her head up and down, with a bright smile on\nher face. Even though her reaction was a bit too overwhelming, it made me laugh\nnon-the-less. I was very confident that I could do a great job, as my past\ngraphic designing skills came to light, with each outline of the rainbow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nfirst stenciled out the clouds of the rainbow with pink paint, before drawing\nin the different colors of the rainbow. I tried my best to be steady and to\nfocus on my target goal of making this adorable little sunshine happy. Once I\nwas finished, I ushered Lele to turn her right cheek, as I held a handheld\nmirror for her to see the finish product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWow!\nThis is pretty,\u201d she said, \u201cThank you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\ntold her she was welcome and surprisingly received $10 from her mother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank\nyou so much for being here. I saw that Miami Church was at the festival last\nyear. I really appreciate the church coming out to participate. I think they\ndid coloring for the kids last year. I\u2019m not so sure, but thank you for making\nthese holiday seasons memorable for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I beamed with as much excitement as I could, vividly seeing myself becoming like the kids around me. I was ready to scream on the top of my longs screaming yes. I face painted a few more of the kids, right until the festival ended at 6 p.m. My legs, back and shoulders ached in pain as I stood up from after sitting for so long. Volunteering was tough work, it seemed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreat job, Shanika. I am extremely proud of you. Thank you for being a part of the team. We really appreciate you helping out. In being a part of this team for three years, and only attending two Pumpkin Patch Festivals, I have seen the joy it brings to people. I enjoy helping out and also take advantage of the moment to evangelize with visitors who want to know more about Miami Church. Thanks for all your help and we look forward to see you next time,\u201d Guaico said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today was a fun experience, many of which I was not expecting. Even though I gave the $15 that I made for the day to my managing director as a donation to the church, I still felt like I made a difference in every child\u2019s life through face painting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nthe evening died down, the place got extremely quiet. There was no music, no\nkids screaming and no one taking pictures. Just the silence. The Miami Church\nvolunteers parted ways, each going in a separate direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nYou Go<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n