'Twas the Week Before Opening

‘Twas the week before opening, and all ‘round the farm,

We’re decorating everything with Christmas charm.

The barn was cleared out and set up with care,

In hopes that our Christmas trees soon would be there.

 

The nativity is nestled all snug in its place,

With angels and shepherds proclaiming God’s grace.

The weatherman is predicting a weekend cold snap,

And we’ve had no time for a long winter’s nap!

We’ve been trimming our trees with lights galore,

We are the place to shop for your Christmas décor!

And what to your wondering eyes should appear,

But fresh greens and garlands to bring your home cheer!

 

We’ll have door prizes to win and wassail to sip,

All this stuff is for free, but we do accept tips!

If its specials you want, then come check them out,

While you munch on some snacks and wander about.

 We here end this poem, but we hope you’ll agree,

Our Christmas Open House is something to see.

So on Friday the 25^th, we’ll be merry and bright,

To wish you a Christmas season filled with delight!

And the Winners Are...

Here are the winners from the contests held at Potters Way this fall:

Ladies' Night fall display:  Hannah Johnson

Pumpkin Weight in Scarecrow Row:
1st 2 weeks:  Erica Thorpe with a guess of 637; actual weight was 635 - $25 in Oakes bucks
2nd 2 weeks:  Kathy Sitzler with a guess of 768; actual weight was 771 - $25 in Oakes bucks

Scarecrow Row Contest Winners:
1st place:  "Pirate" by Grant Wagner from Dakota Workers - $150 to club
2nd place:  "Purple with Striped Socks" by Brylee Haberman from Fullerton Achievers - $100 to club

We'd like to thank everyone who came out to visit us this fall season at Potters Way.  The weather was wonderful and we hope you enjoyed your time with us.

We will be re-opening the shop for our Christmas Open House on Friday, November 25th at 10:00 am.  Come and see us for fresh greens, a fresh Christmas tree and all your decorating needs!

Road Construction

After getting a few calls from folks trying to get to our farm by coming down County Rd. 3 from Hwy 281, here's some new information:

 - Although you'll see a "Road Closed" sign, the road is passable according to people who drive it every day.  We would recommend driving a higher clearance vehicle like a pick-up, because it's not always completely leveled out and it's a little rough.

We plan to call the county today and see what we can do for signage because it's pretty  misleading and there aren't any detour signs to follow.

We sincerely apologize for the hassle for those of you who attempted to get here coming that way.  If you're concerned about driving through the low maintenance road, the best bet is to come over on Interstate 94 and down Hwy 1 from Jamestown, and east on Hwy 11 and over on the Guelph highway from Ellendale. 

We so appreciate our visitors from afar and wish the road work would have been completed in time!  Hopefully, this information helps!  See you all soon!

Some of our Visitors...

We LOVE getting pictures sent to us of the little ones having a great time at the pumpkin patch!  Here are some of the great ones we've received so far!  How great are the little costumes? 

Adorable little scarecrow...if she were out in Scarecrow Row, she would get ALL the votes!

CUTE little pumpkin outfits!

Almost couldn't get these two busy guys to sit still long enough!

The Sigafoos family from Ellendale

Choosing just the right one!

Checking out the animals...

Playing in the straw

As you can see, there's so much for families to do at Potters Way!  It's a great way to enjoy the country and have fun with your family and friends!  Don't miss out!

Our Farm

Here are some shots of the exhibits in Scarecrow Row.  We've had an awesome couple of weekends, so you  better stop on out before we're all finished with the season!  We have 2 more weekends to go!

    

We had a great growing season so there is a lot of specialty pumpkins and gourds for sale!   Here are a few pics from the barn and the shop with our fun merchandise! 

Scarecrow Row Sneak Peek!

Here are some pics of the kids getting their scarecrow displays all ready to go!  It's a really neat attraction that you won't want to miss!

Ladies Night!

We held our second annual Ladies Night last evening and we had a great turnout!  We've added a few pictures of the ladies who came out and took advantage of the specials and enjoyed the fabulous cheesecake! 

 

We'll post the winner of our outdoor display soon!

What You Can Expect

There are some important things we want you to know about the upcoming season at Potters Way.

• Since our corn maze was destroyed in the storm on July 10th, we are featuring a new attraction this year called "Scarecrow Row".  The local 4-H kids are creating scarecrows and we will have them on display for viewing, voting and of course, great photo opportunities!
• On Thursday, September 22nd from 7:00 - 9:00 pm, we are having a Ladies Night.  All ladies are welcome and you'll get the first pick of produce for fall decorating along with the unique merchandise in our shop.  We'll have dessert and coffee, along with some fun specials to take advantage of! 
• Finally, remember, our opening day is September 23rd and we are open only 4 weekends until October 16th! 

Don't miss out!  We hope to see you there!

Old Habits Die Hard

Here we are about to start another season at Potters Way and we are continuously reminded that we are not in control. 

Webster's definition of control is "to exercise restraining or directing influence over". We have to admit it...we are control freaks. 

You'd think after a few seasons of both ups and downs, we'd realize that God is totally in control and we'd stop trying so hard to "exercise directing influence".  The truth is, old habits die hard and we're still learning.

This year, we were hit with several surprises;  some good and some not so good.  On July 10th, a major storm blew through our little town of Oakes and more than 1,400 trees were uprooted in town, along with other property damage and major crop damage.  Our corn maze was destroyed in this storm.  Initially, we weren't sure if our plants would produce anything either, so there was some time when we thought we wouldn't have anything for the 2011 season.

But as certain as ever, God came through.  Here are a few pictures of some of the great-looking produce that we'll have for sale this fall. 

A good surprise this year is that Tom and Jean are grandparents again.  Originally, Jeremiah and Becky were expecting this little person on September 15th, the day before we were scheduled to open for the 2011 Potters Way season.  We were all a little apprehensive about the due date!  Well, again, God's timing is always perfect and little Carter James Undem arrived 3 weeks early on August 24th. 



Tom and Jean showing Carter to big brother, Andrew.

Carter James Undem



With the storm pushing our opening back and the baby coming early, the stress of the timing is significantly lower!  It never ceases to amaze us how God works in our lives and the plan He has for us is ALWAYS better than what we could plan for ourselves. 

Check back for more information on what you can expect this year, including information about Ladies Night.  Please make it part of your fall plans to come and visit us and see just how good God really is!  See you soon!

A Blessed New Year to You All!

We wanted to take a  moment to, once again, thank all our loyal customers who came to visit us at Potters Way.  We are always reminded of the purpose for our existence when we see so many people that come to see us.

As always, we also have to thank our family and friends who help prepare and run the place while we are open.  It can be a tremendous amount of work and we couldn't without you all.

Towards the end of 2010, our family sustained a major loss with the passing of both our Grandma Evelyn Rodine and Grandma Dorothy Seefeldt.  Grandma Rodine helped us out in our first year by being our greeter.  She greeted each and every visitor with a greeting that she wrote:  "Welcome to Potters Way.  Come in, look around, and spend the day."  She loved being on the farm and fit right in at Potters Way.  She was proud to be a part of the business and we were honored to have her.

Grandma Seefeldt played a number of roles at Potters Way.  For those of you who enjoyed our Sunday special of homemade pumpkin pie, you tasted what a great cook she was.  She also made lefse with Cousin Sadie during our first Christmas season.  She even volunteered to wash windows when we were getting ready for opening each year.  She was always there for us, jumping at the chance to be helpful.

The passing of them both so close together has been difficult for our family.  They taught us all so much, but especially to treasure and hold tight to family.  We will greatly miss them both.

Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Howard











Grandma Evelyn holding Maclain





Grandma Dorothy and Sadie making lefse



We wish you all a blessed and prosperous new year.