Forget about the Norman Rockwell touchy feely approach to pumpkins.
You know the one.
The frost is on the pumpkins.
A black cat snuggled against a pumpkin in the hay.
Pumpkins are serious business in Manteca and Lathrop.
When folks aren’t busy shipping a thousand or so truckloads of the fruit — yes they are fruit — to market they’re out shooting off rounds of mini-pumpkins at speeds up to 100 mph for a few bucks a bucket from a bazooka-style weapon known as a “Pumpkin Blaster.”
Half Moon Bay can make all the exaggerated claims they want, but Manteca is the true Pumpkin Capital and it has its own festival to match.
Almost seven out of every 10 pumpkins sold commercially in California go rumbling out of Manteca on trucks from now to the last week of October.
Fields around Manteca yielded 73,300 tons of pumpkins from 3,210 acres last year with a gross value of $30.3 million.
They virtually will all end up for decorative uses — except those, of course, that are splattered in the street or smashed against targets at the Dell’Osso Farms Pumpkin Corn Maze.
Pumpkin fun gets going in October with a double shot of gourds as both the 39th annual Sunrise Kiwanis Manteca Pumpkin Fair and the 28th annual Dell’Osso Farms Pumpkin Corn Maze open for business.
Manteca Pumpkin Fair
The two-day event is Saturday, Oct. 5, and Sunday, Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in downtown Manteca
The free event offers community and Main Stage entertainment. Playing the Main Stage Saturday are GK Music from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Jim Anderson from 1 to 2:30 p.m., Triple D from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., and 8 Track Massacre from 4 to 6 p.m.
Sunday’s line-up includes GK Music from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Triple D from 1 to 2:15 p.m., and Latin Magic from 3 to 5p.m.
The music — and access — is free and so are the kids games with a pumpkin theme in Library Park.
More than 40,000 people attended last year’s event making it the biggest two-day party in Manteca.
The Sunrise Kiwanis over the past 39 years have generated more than $1.2 million for nonprofit groups serving youth, the elderly and the community by staging the fair.
There are nearly 200 vendors selling everything from foods and craft items to toys, CDs, and household items.
There are two stages of continuous entertainment, pumpkin carving competition, a paint and sip party, beer garden, a car show Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., plus the Pumpkin Patch/Kids Zone in Library Park.
The Pumpkin Patch features pumpkin rolling, pumpkin seed spitting, and pie eating among other contests.
You can purchase pumpkins as well.
For more details, go to mantecapumpkinfair.org
Dell’Osso Farms
Pumpkin Maze
Question: How far can you lob a mini-pumpkin using a 6-foot barrel with sights?
Answer: About 200 yards.
The Pumpkin Maze at Dell’Osso Farms is back for its 28th annual run starting Friday, Oct. 4, and running daily through Oct. 31.
It includes the wildly popular “pumpkin blasters” welded from steel. For $8, you get a bucket of ammo — 12 mini-pumpkins to be exact — that you can fire away at targets that include the standard open mouths on Halloween characters and hanging tires.
People each year have stood in line — sometimes for hours — for a chance to shoot off the blasters.
The pumpkin blasters are a sideshow to the main event — a 25-acre corn maze that is accessible off Interstate 5 at the Manthey Road exit just south of the Highway 120 Bypass interchange.
In addition to the massive corn maze, the month-long event features a Haunted Castle, Dell’Osso Express Train, Pumpkin Treehouse, Slide Hill, Teeny Town, Hay Ride, Goat Walk, Duck Races, Tire Pyramid, Dell’Osso Speedway, Animal Zoo, Ball Shoot Arena, Tire Play Area, Lawn Games, Mini Golf, Low Obstacle Course, Kiddie Play Land, Spinning Pumpkins, Pillow Jumping, Children’s Interactive Parade, Pig Races and Entertainment.
All the aforementioned is included in the admission.
Extra charges besides the blasters are Gem Mining $10, Carousel $5, Pony Rides $10, and Pumpkin Painting $5.
Tickets are available at specific attractions.
There is also a country store, a massive pumpkin patch to select and buy the perfect pumpkin, as well as food and seasonal gifts.
Parking is free.
The farm is open Monday through Friday from noon to the last entry at 7 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to the last entry at 7 p.m.
Sunday through Thursday attractions start closing at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Special Halloween hours are noon to 5 p.m. with attractions starting to close at 4 p.m.
The fastest anyone has ever gotten through the maze was a half hour while the longest takes more than several hours.
Those going in late afternoon are encouraged to take flashlights.
General admission Monday through Thursday is $20.95 per person, Friday $25.95 per person, and Saturday/Sunday $29.95 per person. Children 2 and under are free.
You can reserve tickets online but no online ticket sales are available.
It was a move to avoid fraudulent third-party ticket sales. Admission is paid at the farm.
The Dell’Osso Family first started farming in the Valley in the 1930s. The third-generation farm has been growing pumpkins for over 30 years
For more information, go to the website at www.pumpkinmaze.com.
