McWilliams Pumpkin Patch is open for the season and hosted two Gainesville first grade classes for a field trip Thursday morning. The students learned about agriculture and livestock on a train ride around the farm and observed animals familiar and fancy, including ponies, goats, pigs, emus, llamas, alpacas and peacocks. The pumpkin patch also offers a ground-level jumping pillow, giant slide, hay bale maze and the human-size “hamster wheel” race shown here. Inside the wheel are students in Ally Roe and Rachel Hogan’s classes. McWilliams has pumpkins, gourds and mums for sale, and hours are 2 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Located at 4007 County Road 6920 off U.S. 160 southwest of West Plains, the business is open through the last weekend in October.
