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Pumpkin presents By AMBER FOSSEN Ashland Daily Tidings The children of Ashland are hunting orange gourds to carve and Ron Roth is making it easy. From left, Three-year olds Laurana Steele, Detlef Laughery and Jaedyn Greene, roll a big pumpkin at Eagle Mill Farm during SOU Schneider Children's Center field trip. Although they helped each other try to carry the big one, they gave up along the way. Ashland Daily Tidings/SATSUKI DOI For more than 15 years, valley children have flocked to Eagle Mill Farm in search of the perfect pumpkin. The farm comes alive every October as class after class reaps the rewards Roth has sewn just for them. "It's one of the most enjoyable, rewarding things I do," Roth, 57, said while overseeing his patch of pumpkins. "It becomes more rewarding each year." Children from Ashland's Head Start, the Schneider Children's Center and Walker Elementary spent Thursday morning looking at a variety of pumpkins, including cinderellas, luminas, howdens, small sugars and Atlantic giants. About 1,000 kids or roughly 50 classes come through each year. And, believe it or not, there's enough pumpkins for all of them and then some. "We just grow a lot," Roth said. Leftover pumpkins are either sold or given away after the Halloween holiday's passage. Children, some carrying pumpkins half their size, seemed to know exactly what they wanted out of a pumpkin. "I want one with no dirt on it," Stormy Greenberg, a Schneider preschooler, said after putting a small round pumpkin with a clump of dirt on its side back where she found it. The search continued. Greenberg, wasn't the only one with a specific pumpkin in mind. Walker kindergartner Lauren Hammon-Pereia, donning a pumpkin hat, said "I'm looking for a big pumpkin that I can carry up the hill." She later changed her mind, securing a small round pumpkin. "It was round and I thought it was perfect," she said. Roth said many children select small sugar pumpkins, which are white and contrast with the shades of orange in the patch. He said it was the best pumpkin for eating. Once "the" pumpkin was found, students toured the farm before returning to class. While the field trip is a favorite among students, it has also become a favorite among teachers like Lisa Schroetke, an Ashland Head Start teacher, who has brought her class to the farm for the last five years. Schroetke said the class comes back year after year thanks to Roth's generosity. "Most of the teachers have been doing this for quite a while," Roth said. "I've talked to kids that are graduates of Ashland High School that remember coming here to get pumpkins when they were in kindergarten." Chris Abbott Stokes, a Walker kindergarten teacher, said the farm is hard to resist. "[Roth] makes it magical," she said. Roth said the tradition will continue. "Why would we not do this?" LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -