Fall fun just a short drive away

Fall is in the air, and businesses in Franklin County and the surrounding area are preparing for the season.

As the area calms from summer festivals, popular fall attractions like Pome on the Range, Williamsburg, Peckham’s Pumpkin Patch, Rantoul, and the Louisburg Cider Mill are just getting geared up for one of their busiest times of the year.

While Pome on the Range’s annual “Fall Fest” isn’t until Oct. 10 and 11, market manager Jodi Stevens said preparation already is under way.

“It’s going to be a very busy weekend,” she said. “When we’re done, we all go out for pizza and just take a breather.”

Pome on the Range, 205 Idaho Road, will feature mule-drawn carriages to the pumpkin patch and the apple orchard.

“We’ve had our apple and peach orchards for 26 years, so we know they are top shape,” Stevens said.

The weekend festivities also will include a balloon making clown, moonwalk for children and fall decorations for sale. There also will be wine tasting and a playground.

While Stevens said some may be disappointed that there won’t be a corn maze because of a storm earlier this year, she said families still can have a good time.

“It’s just taken a lot of work to get ready,” she said. “There’s been lots of mowing and cleaning. It takes quite awhile to stock up the shelves in (the) market.”

Employees have been busy picking apples at Pome on the Range as well.

“They’re picking between 150 to 200 bushels of apples a day,” Stevens said.

The fourth annual Ol’ Mary’s Chili Cook-off will be at 10 a.m. today. The event raises money for the Franklin County Firefighters Association.

“I thought there was a connection between firefighters and chili,” owner Harry Peckham has said.

This weekend marks the opening of the pumpkin patch, which allows visitors to pick their own pumpkins.

In addition to several kinds of pumpkins, Peckham’s grows an assortment of gourds, Indian corn, popcorn and broom corn.

A big bale hay maze also is an attraction at Peckham’s.

This two-weekend event runs today and Sunday and Oct. 3 and 4 Some of the events during the weekend will include cider and doughnut making, crafts, pony rides, farm animals and fall produce.

There also will be a 10-acre corn maze in the shape of a vampire.

“We’ve done the maze before, but this year it’s bigger and better,” Louisburg Cider Mill secretary Carrie Vohs said.

Tickets for the event are $7.50 and include parking, admittance to the maze, fishing, seeing the farm animals, a hay bale maze and a children’s area. Children younger than 2 are free with a paid adult.

There also will be breakfast from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and a barbecue from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Live entertainment from the Bluegrass Missourians, Misty Mountain Revival, Blue Stem and Jamey Logan and Friends also will be featured.

 Children will be able to enjoy a kids’ tent with a moonwalk and slide. The pumpkin patch, which runs through Nov. 1, will open for business this weekend as well.

“It’s just going to be a lot of fun for families,” Vohs said.

(785) 878-3793

Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday

2710 Vermont Road, Rantoul

• Pome on the Range

(785) 746-5492

Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday 

205 Idaho Road, Williamsburg

• Louisburg Cider Mill

(913) 837-5202

Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

14730 Highway 68, Louisburg