Harvest Fest is Bumper Crop of Fun

November 3, 2016

The county fair stopped by North Godwin Elementary School for Harvest Day, when students met a horse and goats, played games for treats, made crafts and took tractor-hitched hayrides.

The event, which the school has hosted for 12 years, is an alternative to a traditional Halloween party, and involves a half-day of autumn-themed fun, supported by local businesses that provide discounts for food and materials.

Staff members turned the basketball court into a makeshift pumpkin patch, where students picked out gourds. “It’s a beauty! I found a beauty!” shouted one first-grader as he grabbed his mini-pumpkin.

A blindfolded student doesn’t know Godwin Heights Superintendent William Fetterhoff is waiting in front of the jack-o-lantern game

Fourth-grader Usher Laurencio gets his face painted by Hannah Kimzler, a Grandville High School sophomore

Students climb off the hayride after a tour of the playground

Third-graders Nialeah Sparks and Aliyah Santiago are ready for the hayride

“Farmer Greg” Height, maintenance director, annually provides the hayrides via tractor

Students walk for cake and other treats

Third-grader Breanna Strickland shows off her cat ears and whiskers

Third-graders Omariyah Wilson-Smith and Kendrick Mayhue make decorations

Students work on their crafts

Students look for the perfect mini-pumpkin

Students meet Sunny the horse

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Erin Albanese

Erin Albanese is managing editor and reporter, covering Kentwood, Lowell and Wyoming. She was one of the original SNN staff writers, helping launch the site in 2013, and enjoys fulfilling the mission of sharing the stories of public education. She has worked as a journalist in the Grand Rapids area since 2000. A graduate of Central Michigan University, she has written for The Grand Rapids Press, Advance Newspapers, On-the-Town Magazine and Group Tour Media. Read Erin's full bio