By CHRISTINE LYNCH / Photography By Jack Lynch
With autumn in the air, seeing a field of plump pumpkins seems perfectly normal. Yet, that one particular field along Nathan Ellis Highway (Route 151) just west of the Mashpee Rotary only appears as a month-long fundraiser sponsored by the Mashpee Congregational Church. For a young congregation, this group has its purpose firmly set in the Mashpee community. Established just 11 years ago, the Mashpee Congregational Church United Church of Christ (UCC) has a building right in the Popponessett Marketplace complex.
Since 2012, the orange-hued pumpkin patch had been held at Mashpee’s South Cape Village until that mall needed additional parking. The church committee figured it would have to discontinue the event, when help arrived from the Mashpee Board of Selectmen. The board approved a new location on the grounds of the Mashpee Police Department. This prime spot is right on the MPD Route 151 property, along with ample parking on Frank Hicks Drive.
This fun fundraiser displays hundreds of perfect pumpkins so passers-by can stop and purchase a winning specimen. Choices include large pumpkins, mini pumpkins, gourds, and ready-for-display decorated pumpkins. The pumpkins arrive each year from New Mexico, where they are grown on a Navajo reservation. So, this program not only helps our local groups, it also provides income for the native pumpkin tenders back in the Southwest. The Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers, who supply the pumpkins, sent a statement. “Our labor recruiters have been hard at work hiring five hundred plus people from the Navajo and Zuni reservations that will harvest more than 1,200 acres of pumpkins. This harvest should result in a $1,500,000 payroll for Native Americans in a region with over 40% unemployment. It takes a small army to pick nearly two million pumpkins in six weeks.”
So this year, early on Saturday morning of September 29, a 53-foot long, gleaming tractor-trailer will pull into Mashpee’s municipal parking lot and volunteers will begin unloading its bright orange cargo. Using a large backhoe, wheelbarrows, and the muscles of church members—some in their 80s—volunteers will place (literally) tons of pumpkins onto palettes. Midway through October, they’ll repeat this with another half-truck load to replenish their stock.
As church member Judith Kimber said, “What’s exciting for us this year is that the town of Mashpee has really embraced this event.” She mentioned the town-promised volunteers, including the Mashpee High School football team, who help unload the large semi-trailer truck full of pumpkins. “Once the area is set up, Mashpee students and sports teams, along with other supporters help with sales from October 1 to October 31, Monday through Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM and Sunday noon to 6 PM.”
In addition to eye-catching pumpkins, the church group sells another sought-after fall treat with its own growing reputation—their Church Pies of Cape Cod. People fortunate to have tasted one usually want to grab one wherever they are being sold. Luckily, these pies also will be available in the church’s booth at the 2018 Octoberfest in Mashpee Commons.
The pumpkin patch and Church Pies of Cape Cod regularly bring in thousands of dollars for the church’s community outreach programs. These include local organizations such as the Mashpee Boys & Girls Club dinners, the Mashpee Village Emergency Food Closet, and The Baby Center in Hyannis. They also contribute to national disaster collections, including last year’s massive hurricane relief efforts. “We do our part to make the Cape and the world a better place,” Ms. Kimber said.
The pie sales began when the church was seeking additional ways to raise funds to help support its charitable works. A church member found a man who ran a successful, premium chicken pie business. It turns out his company didn’t have a marketing outlet on the Cape, so in 2011 a win-win situation occurred. The Mashpee church became the sole local provider of Upton Chicken Pies, which is comfort food supreme.
The company printed special labels for them bearing the name Church Pies of Cape Cod. The red-colored labels are white meat chicken only and the ones with green labels indicate that the pie contains vegetables. Both are delicious! The pies come in four sizes, ranging from a small for one person up to a large family size for up to six people. Most stores carry at least two smaller sizes, both with and without vegetables.
The manufacturer delivers large palettes of frozen pies to the church basement about 18 times a year. Then the pie team members load and trek cartons of pies to various locations throughout the Cape, including many small stores, as well as 10 Stop & Shop markets. The church also sells these pies directly during January to March at the Mahoney’s Winter Market in Falmouth.
Currently, 12 members are on the pie team, and, in their eight years have sold well over 59,000 pies weighing more than 94,000 pounds. In fact, inventory manager Ken Nelson gave a wonderfully graphic estimate of all the pies they’ve sold since the program started. He suggested that if each pie was placed in a line, they’d reach from the church on Shore Drive all the way up beyond the Mashpee Town Hall, which is near the intersection of Great Neck Road South and Route 130. At about eight miles long, that’s a considerable lot of pies. No doubt, the pumpkins they sell at the pumpkin patch would form a similarly long trail.
Mr. Nelson said, “every penny of our profit flows directly through the Mashpee Congregational Church for its outreach into the greater Mashpee/Cape Cod Community.”
When the world has so many people in dire situations, this caring congregation steps up and delivers. As one church member put it, “Where there is a need, we fill it.”