Ioka Valley Farm's Melissa Leab, right, with Williamstown Elementary teacher Mackenzie Viola's fourth-grade class. The class created advertisements highlighting the farm's products.
Leab with the winners first-place Chavi Thompson, second-place Selin Uras, and third-place Eden Whitman.
Farm goats.
Fourth-grader Corinne Maddox and her mom, Dana Maddox, race ducks with Robert and Martha Leab
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The leaves are changing, and the air is cooling; everyone knows what that means — fall is here, and Ioka Valley Farm is inviting guests to its seasonal festivities.
Fourth-grade students at Williamstown Elementary showcased the refreshing atmosphere of the four-generation family-owned farm and its fall activities as part of our Junior Marketers Create an Ad series.
Every weekend from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. through Oct. 26, Ioka Valley Farm, located at 3475 Hancock Road, comes alive with activities from pumpkin picking, a mini corn maze exploration, a "tryke" track, a cow train ride, water balloon slingshot game, and much more. This year, the Leabs introduced pick-your-own sunflowers to their array of offerings.
"The fall season is a refreshing time of year where we do enjoy the fall harvest. It's a true family time. We see multi-generations coming over together, meeting friends and having a true family day over there with us in the fall season," said Melissa Leab, one of the farm's third-generation owners.
In their colorful drawings, the students highlighted the fall wonderland the farm becomes, featuring several of its aspects, including its pumpkin patch, cow train ride, sugarhouse, café, pumpkin slingshot, dress-me-scarecrows, and more.
"I feel like they put a very realistic view of Ioka Valley, but also trying to pull people in with what they offer and what makes them different," fourth-grade teacher Mackenzie Viola said.
"One student was really excited, he showed everything that Ioka Valley has that no other farm has. So, I think it was really cool how excited they were and how much they wanted to showcase the really great things that Ioka Valley offers."
Leab visited the school to meet the junior marketers, during which they learned about the farm's offerings, history, and what it is like running a farm.
The 500-acre farm grows a total of three acres of pumpkins and has about 80 animals, including rabbits, cows, goats, alpacas, sheep, chickens, turkeys and more. Additionally, Ioka Valley Farm borrows its pigs from Hancock Shaker Village, until pumpkin patch season is over.
Families especially love the goat ramp, where they get to place the animal feed into a metal bucket and watch as the goats climb up to get it.
The pumpkin patch that is open on the weekends is called the pick-your-own pumpkin patch, which has Jack O' Lantern-size pumpkins.
On another acre, they grow sugar pumpkins which are smaller and easier to carry.
"So, when kids come for their school groups Monday through Friday, we bring you to your own special patch, and it has slightly smaller pumpkins so that you can carry them home," Leab said.
They have a specialty patch, which grows an array of pumpkins and gourds, including rascal pumpkins, warty goblin pumpkins, white pumpkins, goose gourds, apple gourds, and more.
The specialty pumpkins and gourds are displayed in front for customers to choose from without needing to go to the patch, Leab said.
The fun never ends, as families can also play on the outdoor farm-theme playground, featuring a four-way-see-saw, 40-foot-long pipeline slide, adult pedal carts, the tryke track, and duck racer.
Even though it's not time to make maple syrup, families can visit the sugarhouse to learn how its made each spring. Sometimes they have product samples to try.
Also open is the farm's Calf-A, which serves Ioka's roast beef and maple barbeque sandwiches, snacks, and more
The farm has been a fall destination since 1989, offering a pick-your-own pumpkin patch, however, over the years, it has expanded with the inclusion of the new generations' ideas.
Robert and Dorothy Leab opened the farm in 1936 after driving "13 head of cattle over Brodie Mountain" from Lanesborough.
Over the nearly 90 years, each generation introduced something new to the farm, from Christmas trees in 1986, a shift from dairy to focus more on diversifying by growing pumpkins, strawberries, and the trees in 1996, and the third-generation introducing educational programing.
This year's inclusion of sunflower picking was an idea from one of the fourth-generation owners, Josh Leab.
It was extremely challenging to select the three winners. The Leab family were able to narrow it down to six and very carefully chose the final three winners: first-place Chavi Thompson, second-place Selin Uras, and third-place Eden Whitman.
In Chavi's ad, she incorporated the farm's pumpkins and a scarecrow, "because that just gives fall core," she said.
She highlighted how she made each of the pumpkins different colors because that is more realistic. Additionally, the drawing has a tree that has been tapped to collect maple sap for the farm's maple syrup and maple products.
Thompson also included a sign showing the name of the farm and the year it was established, 1936.
Selin drew a table with a large stack of pumpkins, because a Ioka Valley Farm grows lots of pumpkins, and a table with a huge container of maple syrup.
"I learned new things about Ioka Valley Farm, because I've never actually been there before. I learned that they sell pumpkins and maple syrup and they have a pumpkin patch," she said.
Eden drew several aspects of the farm, including the pumpkin carriage that brings people over to the mini-corn maze, cafe, dress-the-scarecrow activity, the pumpkin patch and the pumpkin launch.
"They did a great job representing the different aspects and different offerings. So each photo that was done definitely had a clear message. So that's what made it even harder, because they all followed exactly what we were looking for," Melissa Leab said.
The three winners captured the farm with the creativity and the use of color, she added.
The Create an Ad series was a way to connect with the community and a great way to meet some students and families that they never had the opportunity to meet, Leab said.
By creating an ad for a local business, students were able to have an active role in their community, Viola said.
"I think it's important to show them that even in fourth grade, their voice matters, their art matters, and it's beyond the curriculum," she said.
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