Family-friendly things to do this fall on Long Island
The audiance watches a 1,000 pound pumpkin being weighed during the giant pumpkin weigh-off contest held at Hicks Nursery in Westbury. Credit: Steve Pfost
This fall marks the return of the possible 1,000-pound pumpkin at Hicks Nurseries in Westbury, the debut of an apple cider doughnut ice-cream sandwich at the Jericho Cider Mill and the expansion of the Waterdrinker Family Farm in Manorville to a second location in Riverhead. Here are the details.
Hicks Nurseries
100 Jericho Tpke., Westbury
“We encourage all Long Island home pumpkin growers to bring their pumpkins, no matter what size, to be weighed and judged in front of our audience,” says Karen Musgrave, Hicks marketing coordinator. “The largest pumpkin wins.”
The competition returns to Hicks at 11 a.m. Oct. 15 for the first time since before the pandemic. In the past, some pumpkins have clocked in above 1,000 pounds, Musgrave says, and had to be lifted to the scale by the farm’s forklift.
In addition, Hicks will host its annual pet parade at 5 p.m. Oct. 18. Participants are welcome to bring their dogs, cats, fish and birds dressed in costume for the parade and take a photo with Otto the Ghost.
Visitors may notice a new look at Hicks this fall, as the farm has redone the whole store, Musgrave says. The entrance will be all glass and there will be all new floors, fixtures, lighting, signage and checkout area.
Otto the Ghost will be featured in a new, animated story called “Otto’s New Neighbor.” Visitors can experience Otto’s walk-through story daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 16 though Oct. 29. To take a picture with a friendly Otto, come on weekends, Yom Kippur or Columbus Day between 10 a.m. and noon or from 1 to 4 p.m. through Oct. 29. 516-334-0066, hicksnurseries.com.
Jericho Cider Mill
213 Rte. 106, Jericho
The Jericho Cider Mill attracts customers throughout the fall and winter with their fresh made apple cider, pies, apples and baked treats in Jericho. Credit: Daniel Brennan
It’s hard to imagine an improvement on the cider doughnut, but Jericho Cider Mill has upped its fall treat game this year by turning its cider doughnuts into ice cream sandwiches.
“We slice the cider doughnut in half and put cinnamon ice cream in the middle,” says general manager Ted Ketsoglou. “Our cider doughnuts are very popular, our ice cream is very popular … so we put them together. It started selling.”
The premade items are offered as single packages from the cider mill’s freezer for $4.99 each. It takes about three minutes for the doughnut to thaw enough to eat the sandwich. It will be a permanent offering at the cider mill, Ketsoglou says.
Jericho Cider Mill is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily ; 516-433-3360, jerichocider.com.
Waterdrinker North Fork
4560 Sound Ave., Riverhead
Waterdrinker is leasing property from the Garden of Eve Organic Farm and Market in Riverhead, rebranding it as Waterdrinker North Fork.
Waterdrinker will expand the family activities at the Riverhead location, says Waterdrinker manager Marc Weiss. “We’ll have our haunted corn maze; we’ll have a playground; we’ll have pumpkin picking,” he says. Activity Alley will offer jump pads, giant basketball hoops, a John Deere tractor and Noah’s Ark play sculpture. “It’s twice as big, with twice as many activities. We bought all new playground equipment. We’re revamping their raceway pedal cars. There’s talk to do a mini golf course like we have at our other location,” he says.
Weiss says he plans to move the pirate corn maze that has been at the Manorville location over to the Riverhead location and create a new corn maze at the original Waterdrinker. Its theme will be a nod to the other activities at the two properties. It will be called The Tulip Tunnel of Terror, a reference to Waterdrinker’s annual Tulip Festival. “Some ghosts unfortunately took over the tunnel,” he says. There’ll also be a vampire, a play on the annual Garlic Festival at Garden of Eve.
The Garlic Festival will be moved to the Manorville location just for this year — 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 16 and 17 — before returning to Riverhead next fall, Weiss says. The vampire that remains in the Corn Maze is immune to the repelling power of garlic, he jokes.
Entry to the Manorville location (663 Wading River Rd.) will be $20 per person for ages 2 and older; entry cost for the Riverhead location has yet to be determined, Weiss says. Food will be additional, as will pumpkins and sunflower stalks, he says. 631-878-8653, water-drinker.com.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
