News

Pumpkin Paradise open for 2025 season

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

It is officially Halloween season, which means it is time for people to go to their local pumpkin patch and select that perfect jack-o-lantern to carve up.

Pumpkin Paradise, LLC, located at 1853 Road 100 in Sublette, is one such pumpkin patch open for the season, and she said there is a lot of excitement in the air.

“We’re so excited to be open, we’re really happy to have a good pumpkin crop this year for people to choose from and we even added a couple new attractions like the big Adirondack chair for photos, tug-of-war, and we also hid some pumpkins in the corn maze,” owner Janet Weidner said. “There’s also a space in the gift shop where you can get your ‘pumpkin name,’ and we’ve got more merchandise in there for shoppers. We started planting everything in early June and we spent most of the summer babying everything and watching everything grow. We were thankful to get the rain we did, that really helped with the pumpkins’ growing and the weeds’ growing, which we weren’t as thrilled about, but we just work at it every day. We don’t have our usual Sasquatch pumpkin this year since none of them grew quite that big, but we definitely have enough pumpkins for people to choose from.”

Resurfacing to begin on U.S. 54 in Seward County

Kansas Department of Transportation

The Kansas Department of Transportation will start a resurfacing project the week of Oct. 6 along U.S. Highway 54 starting east of the intersection of Panhandle Road to the Meade/Seward county line.

U.S. 54 will be reduced to one lane in smaller sections as work takes place on the 8.3-mile project area. Motorists should expect delays of up to 15 minutes as flaggers and a pilot car direct one-lane traffic through the work zone. The lane reduction will be marked by signs and cones. The highway will be open to normal traffic when construction is not taking place.

Cake N Cow Farms opens new patch in Hugoton

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The Halloween season is upon everyone, and people now have a new spot to find their jack-o-lantern.

Cake N Cow Farms, located at 583 Road 24 in Hugoton, recently announced the opening of its pumpkin patch. The patch’s official grand opening took place Saturday, and as owners Holly Owens and Matt James tell it, the project has been a long time coming.

Bumpers & Badges returns thanks to LPD

ROBERT PIERCE

• Leader & Times

Saturday, Oct. 11, will see much in the way of events taking place in the area, and the Liberal Police Department is hosting its own fun-filled event that day.

Hosted as LPD’s first Faith & Blue event in 2023, Bumpers & Badges is back for this year from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 11 at Billy’s Ayr Lanes, and Community Police Coordinator Dalanie Underwood said department officials are excited to host it again.

“It’s a fun bowling event where officers, faith leaders and the community can come together,” she said.

Underwood said a big focus for the LPD for many years has been community policing, and events like Bumpers & Badges let officers connect with the public as not just police, but also neighbors.

Oktoberfest coming to Liberal

ROBERT PIERCE

• Leader & Times

October has arrived, and autumn is in the air. A big celebration for the month in many communities worldwide revolves around German culture, and Saturday, Oct. 11, Liberal will be hosting its own version of Oktoberfest.

Seward County United Way, Tortuga Brewing Company and Oktoberfest Liberal KS are bringing the celebration to town, and the fun will start at noon on Saturday, Oct. 11 and run until midnight.

SCUW Board Vice President Katie Taylor said the day will feature food trucks and other local vendors, as well as some local bands and DJs providing music.

“We’re trying to get as many German-themed vendors and food offerings as we can,” she said. “We also have at this point two confirmed breweries – Tortuga and Dodge City Brewing Company – and There are two more that are still pending. We aren’t sure if they’ll be able to make it or not.”