The South Elgin Pumpkin Patch Festival just wouldn’t be the same without Mike Kenyon, the man whose pumpkins can be found all over the annual fall event grounds.

For the last 21 years, Kenyon has been growing the orange gourds on his family’s farm on Barry Road, about a half mile from South Elgin High School.

“I was looking for something I could do on a bigger scale for the community,” said Kenyon, a longtime Kane County Board member. “I plant them and (the volunteers) harvest them and sell them at the festival.”

This year those volunteers will be the members of the South Elgin High School girls volleyball team, who will be out in the fields Wednesday to bring in the 2021 crop in advance of the Oct. 2, event, said Kim Wascher, director of the South Elgin Parks and Recreation Department.

“South Elgin High School sports programs require participants to take part in community service activities,” Wascher said. “So either football players or volleyball players have been helping us harvest for quite a few years. It’s a good workout.”

Last year, the event was one of the few held in the Kane County area despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With lots of precautions in place, including limits on attendance, assigned times to enter and leave and prepackaged concessions, the scaled-back fest brought out a lot of people just happy to be attending a gathering with other people.

This year the free festival is set for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at SEBA Park, 151 S. Water St.

Kenyon said on average he’ll donate about 700 pumpkins, which the village sells for $1 to $5 each, depending on size. The money raised goes to the Parks and Recreation Department’s “Fundation,” which provides scholarship money to families who can’t afford to pay for park programs, Wascher said.

The fund also benefits from the Pumpkin Plunge.

“For just one dollar, people can pick a pumpkin. They turn over their pumpkin, and a number on

the bottom reveals what prize they get,” Wascher said.

New this year will be the Halloween Costume Pet Parade, set for 11 a.m., during which pets will display their holiday attire and compete for awards for scariest, cutest, funniest and best owner/pet costumes.

Other attractions include a petting zoo, a pyramid of hay, a trolley ride and a carving and painting station, which lets anyone who purchases a pumpkin the chance to design theirs immediately.

“SEBA Park also has an all-inclusive playground,” Wascher said. “There’s also a book fair going on at the same time for our preschool pals program.”

New books from Scholastic will be on sale at the nearby municipal annex building, 1 W. State St.

Wascher said the festival typically draws 1,500 to 2,000 people.

While some pandemic precautions will still be in place, Wascher said she is looking forward to the gathering and seeing families enjoying themselves.

Kenyon gets a kick out of it too, he said.

“I like to see the moms and dads and little kids and wagons filled with pumpkins,” he said. “It’s a nice family thing.”

For more information, go to southelgin.com/pumpkin.

Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.