Bio-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 29, 1994
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From left, Beth, Andy, Julie, Katie, and Emily turn pumpkins Into snowpeo- caused 10-feet high drifts on Munster Road—more appropriately nicknamed
pie to warn motorist's of a frightening thought: winter’s coming! The Golden ‘ Monster Road,
children said the sign reminds motorists of last winter’s 42-inch snowfall that
Pumpkin Snowpeople Portray Frightening Thoughts
PORTAGE (Cambria Co.)
It’s pumpkin time! While pump
kins generally represent the crisp
autumn season, travelers who
drive on Munster Road in Portage
are met with a frightening sign
Winter’s Coming.
On Golden Farms, snowpeople
(pumpkin snowmen) placed by a
sign remind travelers that, last
winter, 42-inches of snowfall
resulted in snowdrifts that were
10-feet high in some places.
‘Then a more appropriate name
for Munster Road would have been
Monster Road,” said mom Loretta
Golden.
She and her husband Vincent
own the 300-acre farm where their
live children grow pumpkins for a
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pumpkin harvesting to
cuddle with a kitten.
money making project.
The children include 13-year
old twins, Catherine and Eli
zabeth; 12-year-old Andy;
10-year-old Julie; and 7-year-old
Emily.
The children have been raising
pumpkins for three or four years.
They do almost all the work of
planting, weeding, fertilizing,
mulching,' harvesting, marketing,
and selling. Their dad, who is a
full-time school teacher in addition
to farming the 300-acre cash crop
farm, their full-time stay-at-home
mom, and a great-uncle John
Migut ocassionally lend a hand in
the pumpkin patch.
The children split the proceeds
from the pumpkin sales. Each
keeps a portion for Christmas and
spending money and the remaining
amount is used to buy college cre
dits in the Pennsylvania Tuition
Account Program.
They also donate pumpkins to
Boy and Girl Scout groups,
church, and civic organizations
and some school groups.
This helps the children leant
valuable lessons in dealing with all
kinds of people.
Because their mom was a for
mer math teach, she sees the
advantage of the pumpkin project
in teaching math skills.
She said, “The kids never have
much trouble in money units in
school because they have been
doing addition and making change
ever since they’ve been quite
* *
Wheelbarrows make
pumpkin picking easier.
young,”
All the children attend school in
the Portage Area School District
and finished the last school year
with “A” averages.
The twins’iire eight grade stu
dents and are members of the
school chorus, basketball team,
marching band, church choir, and
community league girls’ softball
team.
Andy, a sixth grader, plays
basketball, has competed in and
placed in Junior Olympics Track
and Field competition where he
excelled in the high jump and the
long jump. He recently completed
a hunter safety course and looks
forward to his first deer hunting
season.
Julie, a fifth grader, is a member
of the Reading Competition Team,
plays the clarinet, and sings in the
church junior choir.
Second-grader Emily is a mem
ber of the student council at Por
tage Elementary School.
All the girls play the keyboard
and piano and take ballet, tap,'and
jazz dance lessons.
In addition to the usual assort-
m
Emily.
ment of cats,, kittens, and dogs on
the farm, the family has a pot
bellied pig named Piggy Sue.