A senior at Arlington High School, Brooke Stovall had already decided last spring what to do for her senior project.
“I wanted to be one of the early birds and get my project done before the end of the school year,” Stovall told The Arlington Times last week.
“I was having trouble deciding what to do for my senior project when my aerobics teacher asked me about my plans,” Stovall said. When she told Wendy Pattermann that she hopes to work with children someday, Pattermann suggested the city of Arlington’s Harvest Party as a potential senior project.
A former member of the city’s Parks, Arts and Recreation Commission, Pattermann recruited a senior to coordinate that event for the community two years ago. Before that, the city’s recreation manager, Sarah Hegge had been coordinating the event.
“The event started with the grand opening of that neighborhood park,” Hegge said. Hegge was thrilled when Pattermann came up with the idea of having students do it for their senior projects.
This is the third year that a student has planned the event, Hegge said.
“It’s very helpful for me,” she said. “And it’s nice because the event is different every year, with each student having new ideas about what events to plan.”
Stovall has been thinking about the project since May, when Pattermann suggested the idea.
“I did some research during the summer, asking the neighborhood kids what kinds of things they like to do,” said the resident of Gleneagle.
“I made a list and eliminated some things,” she said. She is planning some classic events, like three-legged races and a spoon race, a hoola hoop contest, face painting, cookie decorating and a basketball contest, since the park features a basketball court.
“I am just now finalizing the layout and confirming all the volunteer helpers,” Stovall said, adding it was a bit difficult to get fellow students to commit, but she has rounded up about 50 friends, fellow students and family members to help. There will be 12 different activity stations, she said.
“I went to the Honor Society and asked the members to help me out,” Stovall said.
“My aunt will help with face painting,” she said.
Stovall emailed to all the farms in the area seeking donations of pumpkins for the pumpkin decorating project.
“I decided it wouldn’t be good to give sharp objects to the kids for carving the pumpkins, so we will be painting and decorating them.”
“I’d like to thank Biringer Farm for donating 50 pumpkins,” Stovall said.
The young organizer said she will not be in charge of any of the stations.
“I’ll have to be free to supervise the whole thing.”
Stovall had a budget from the city of $300 and got help from Hegge in promoting the event
“Sarah Hegge made the flyers and put it in the city’s newsletter,” Stovall said. She is distributing the flyers at area elementary schools, including Lakewood, Arlington and Shoultes Elementary in the Marysville School District.
“Those kids live in the neighborhood, too.”
As of last week, she had spent $275 buying prizes and toys from the Oriental Trading catalogue.
“I need to hit the Dollar Store one more time,” she said.
Along with the donated pumpkins, Stovall has also recruited five dozen cookies from Safeway and is still hoping for cupcakes from Haggen.
Stovall said she was thinking of being a teacher but is now leaning toward being a dental assistant, which she is studying this year at Sno-Isle Skill Center.
“I love the dental assistant class,” said Stovall, who plays flute with the high school band.
Once the event is over, Stovall will assemble a portfolio with pictures and present it to a panel of adults in January to complete her senior project along with all the other early birds.
“It will be good to have it done and out of the way before the end of the school year. Wendy Pattermann has been my advisor since day one,” Stovall said.
“She’s making sure I’m on track.”
Other seasonal events
Dianna Biringer said there’s no need to go to Alaska to see the Bridge to Nowhere. They’ve got one at the Biringer Farm’s last hurrah at the “No Frills” Pumpkin Patch at 4625 40th Place NE, off Highway 529 between Everett and Marysville.
“Visitors can climb to the top of the bridge and see a sea of pumpkins hiding under the vines,” Biringer said.
The patch is open daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Oct. 4-31, weather permitting.
Even the “No Frills” patch includes some fun farm activities, including people-powered wheelbarrows, resident goats, jump in the hay and ride tired horses in Fort Coyote. On weekends there are Crawley Trolley Rides, light concessions, cider, apples and honey.
Special for the Snohomish County Fall Festival, Farming Yesterday and Today, around north Snohomish County Oct. 18 and 19, Colorific Face Painters will be at Biringer’s farm.
“This is your last chance to put foot on the Spencer Island Farm,” Biringer said. Note that there is no corn maze or playland this year.
For information see the Web site at www.biringerfarm.com or call 425-259-0255.
More fun at
Fosters Farm
There is a corn maze at Fosters Farm in Arlington through Oct. 31. Foster’s maze this year features “Casper the Friendly Ghost” and it costs $4.50 to find your way through the tall stalks of corn growing in the lush Stillaguamish Valley dirt, along with a u-pick pumpkin patch, the new Pumpkin Launcher Slingshot, Old West Town with farm animals and a Kidz Corral Hay Maze, open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily at 5818 SR 530 NE west of downtown Arlington.
For information see the Web site at www.fosterscornmaze.com or call 360-435-5095.
Pumpkins for
Literacy
Buy your holiday pumpkins at the Smokey Point Plant Farm to benefit literacy programs in Arlington, Marysville and Lakewood school districts in the Marysville Rotary’s Pumpkins for Literacy event which is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Oct. 31, at 15022 Twin Lakes Ave. south of the Lakewood Commons west of I-5 in Smokey Point. The fun event includes a bouncy house, hayrides, a mini animal farm, and a story barn where volunteers read to young visitors. Admission is free and proceeds from pumpkin sales benefit the cause. For information call 360-657-3100.
