PUMPKIN PATCH FUNDRAISER SUPPORTS NAVAJO NATION

October 4 -- For the 11th consecutive year, the United Methodist Church of Sea Cliff is holding its Pumpkin Patch Fundraiser.  On Thursday, volunteers unloaded 3,000 pumpkins and spread them about the church's lawn, creating a spectacular field of orange at the corner of Downing and Carpenter Avenues in Sea Cliff.  The pumpkins were grown at the Navajo reservation in New Mexico, and proceeds from the sale will go back to the Navajo nation.  

The fundraiser is a community event in which volunteers of all ages help out.  On Thursday, the North Shore Key Club and the Boy Scouts, as well as Church and Community members all lent a hand moving the gourds to the patch bucket brigade style from what  church member Sally Davies described  as "a very large truck full of pumpkins."  

Through October 31, all are welcome to stop by to pick a pumpkin, and both public and private school classes will visit the patch where children will not only be able to pick pumpkins but are also read stories and taught lessons about Native-American cultures and history by volunteers from the community.  

In addition to the pumpkins, visitors to the patch will also find other types of gourds, cornstalks, pumpkin paintings, and homemade pumpkin pies, breads, cookies, and muffins donated by members of the congregation.