Harris: A story of fall, pumpkins and life

I had the privilege of viewing many success stories during my teaching years. The following is one.

Once upon a time a farmer, Levi Settler, was working in his pumpkin patch.  Weeding out the scraggily, misshapen ones (vine and all) he tossed these into the nearby woods. This had always been his practice.

Unbeknownst to the man, one vine took root and, because it was now getting needed nutrients, it began to grow.

Fall was coming and the patch of pumpkins advertised themselves to all who passed by.  Mr. Settler posted a big sign on the fence.  PUMPKINS FOR SALE...$2.50 and up...take your pick.  Many people stopped and bought his crop.  Soon the bulk of his produce was gone.

Johnny Minor always passed Mr. Settler’s farm on his way home from school.  He had asked his mother earlier if they could buy a pumpkin, sort of decorate it up for Halloween, then clean it and use the ‘meat’ for pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving.  That way the pumpkin would do double duty.

Johnny’s mother told him they couldn’t afford to buy one.  “If you want a pumpkin pie, I can get a can of pumpkin from the dollar store,” he was informed.  “One dollar is cheaper than $2.50.”

As the weather got colder and colder only the misshapen pumpkins were left in the Settler patch.  Soon the man tacked another sign up.  This one said, “FREE PUMPKINS.  Take your pick.”

On his way home from school, Johnny noticed the sign.  He hurried into the kitchen yelling, “Mom.  They’re free.”

“What’s free?” Mrs. Minor asked.

“The pumpkins,” Johnny laughed, jumping around.

Now the boy’s mother knew how badly he had wanted a pumpkin.  She wasn’t certain the boy had read the sign right, but she told him, “Come on.  Let’s go check it out.”  They went to Mr. Settler’s farm and sure enough they were told, “Help yourself to anything you can find.  I’ll be plowing everything under pretty soon.”

Johnny and his mother began walking through the patch of misshapen and very small pumpkins when Johnny saw the setting sun glinting off a bit of orange under a tree in the nearby woods.  He wandered toward it then began yelling, “Mom, mom!”

Mrs. Minor laid down the pumpkin she held in her hands and went to Johnny.  She couldn’t believe her eyes.  There before her was a huge pumpkin.  “This is the pumpkin I want, Mom.”  He tried picking it up but it was too heavy.

Together the two went to where Mr. Settler was working.  Before Mrs. Minor could say anything, Johnny asked the man, “Are all the pumpkins really free?”  The man allowed the boy to begin dragging him by the hand to where the big pumpkin lay.

The farmer let out a, “WOW!” when he saw the prize.

The farmer shook his head ‘yes’.  “That’s what I wrote on the sign,” he said.  “And, I’m a man of my word.”  He loaded the pumpkin onto Johnny’s wagon.

A few days later as he was passing the Minor’s house, Levi Settler noticed the large, decorated pumpkin setting on the little boy’s porch.  Some limbs and wild flowers were around it.  He went home and got two bales of straw.

Taking it to the Minor house, he knocked on the door.  When it was opened both Johnny and his mother stood there.

“Your decorations look so nice, I thought you might be able to use some straw to complete the ‘picture’,” they were told.  Together the three unhooked the straw and lugged it to the house.  They did a little rearranging and stood back to admire their work.

But, that wasn’t the end of the story.  Mr. Settler and the Minors became good friends.

One day when Levi Settler was passing the Minor house he saw Johnny outside playing.  He pulled to the side of the road and got out of the car.  “Say Johnny, I’d like to ask you something.  Would you give me permission to ask your mother if the two of you would join my family?”

“You want to marry my Mom?”

“If it’s alright with you, yes,” the man said.

Johnny looked at him, then grabbed the man’s face between his two hands.  “And I could call you ‘Dad?’”

“That would be the plan,” the man informed the boy.

At that moment the boy grabbed the farmer’s hand and dragged him into the Minor house.  “Mom, Mom,” he yelled.  “There’s something Mr. Set..er...dad would like to ask you.”

And the rest is now history.

Faye Harris is a former Lenawee County resident who retired from North Adams Schools. She can be reached at fayeharris77@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Harris: A story of fall, pumpkins and life