By Skylla Mumana | Reporter
As the seasons have changed and the Waco community has geared up for fall, a new pumpkin patch has snuck its way into town. From Friday to Sunday Sancho Rancho held its first pumpkin patch event for the Waco community to enjoy. The pumpkin patch will remain open every weekend until Oct. 30.
Sancho Rancho has been operating for about a year and according to its website it has the best bulls, beef and cattle feed in McLennan County. Quentin Sanchez serves as a ranch hand at Sancho Rancho and helps to tend to the animals on the property. Sanchez said he was excited about the owners deciding to have a pumpkin patch at the ranch, but was more excited about the opportunity to give back to the community.
“We wanted to give something back to the community,” Sanchez said. “[A pumpkin patch] bigger and better than what they’re used to, like how we enjoyed as little kids.”
With families in mind, the ranch not only has a wide variety of pumpkins laid out for picking, but also food vendors and numerous fall activities for everyone to enjoy, such as hay rides, games and even a bounce castle. Some of the food vendors included Kona Ice, Coney’s Bur-Gour-Met & Buns and Sweet-T-Pies.
Coney’s Bur-Gour-Met & Buns, a food truck located in Temple, specializes in serving food combos that are named after famous athletes, like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.
Sweet-T-Pies was started by Marlene Tucker, a poet and jam maker based in Axtell, who creates all her products from scratch in her kitchen. After learning her jam recipe from an ailing woman in a retirement home, she’s continued to sell her products and share her love of creating for others.
“I just do things because I think of the people who might need them or want them,” Tucker said.
Rachel Sanchez, vice president of operations and co-owner of Sancho Rancho, moved to Texas from Florida over a year ago. Sanchez credits the ranch manager for initially coming up with the idea of a pumpkin patch, and after talking with him, both her and her husband felt that it was a great idea and could be an event that would bring the community together.
“It’s something that I always grew up with,” Sanchez said. “I just thought it was a cool thing to be able to go and pick out a pumpkin and take cool pictures and play games when I was a kid. So I wanted a place where families could go too.”
