SEQUIM – Wanted: a spry young farmer who likes children.
Such a person just might be able to run the Pumpkin Patch, a 33-acre spread of squash fields, corn and straw mazes – and flocks of frolicking kids.
“This doesn’t make any money,” mind you, said Theresa Lassila, manager of the patch.
As a result, she and her father, Phil Lassila, owner of the property, plan to close down permanently after Halloween.
“My dad wants to retire,” Theresa said.
“I’m too old to do it,” added Phil, who said he’s “pushing 70.”
“Farming is a lot of work. People think we just click our heels.”
That remark goes well with the corn maze’s “Wizard of Oz” motif.
Every September, Sunny Farms co-owner Roger Schmidt uses a tractor to cut a Dorothyesque message into the 6.5-acre cornfield. This year, the line visible from the air is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
“I drew it out on graph paper,” said Theresa, “but Roger doesn’t need to do that anymore.”
