Above: Rosalie Urban, back, 7, and Aleigha Freeman, 6, engage in duck racing Saturday afternoon at Center Creek Orchard in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT–

Fall is upon us and a favorite seasonal outing for many is visiting the local orchard. Center Creek Orchard has opened for the season and this year visitors can expect to find some new attractions. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today.

Center Creek is owned by Karen and Gordy Toupal. It’s located at 663 254th Avenue in rural Fairmont. Signs help point the way along the route.

They’re open every weekend during September and October, including MEA weekend, which is typically well-attended. Hours are 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Last year, Center Creek was open, but like many other establishments, there was limited capacity.

“We were limited to 250 people at a time and they had to sign up for it. We kind of liked it because when we get really busy it’s crunched in the afternoon,” said Karen.

While they’re operating normally, Karen said they adopted a new layout this year which they had to use last year during Covid.

“We used to have people come through the barn and it would get all plugged up and now they go around. And we put our food stand outside in the back which is a lot nicer for people because they don’t have to come into the building,” she said.

Karen said Center Creek offers over 30 activities altogether. These include mini golf, barrel train, pony rides, duck racing, apple slinging, and a super slide.

“Last year we couldn’t have any bouncers up, but we have them back this year which is nice,” she said.

One new attraction this year is wagon ball.

“We were looking for something to use and my husband saw the grain wagon available on Craigslist so we bought it and fixed it up to use for wagon ball,” said Karen.

She also shared that they get three goats every year and hold a contest where people get to name the goats on Center Creek’s Facebook page, which she said gets people interactive. This year’s goats are named Minne Sota, Coco and Twix.

As for food, visitors can enjoy hotdogs, hamburgers, nachos and taco in a bag. There’s also kettle corn, caramel apples and various jars of jelly, apple butter and apple salsa

Of course, Center Creek also has ample apples to offer, thanks to its 580 apple trees.

“Right now we have Sweet Tango, First Kiss and Zestar. Those are our main apples and then we’ll have Honeycrisp. We do have a few others but we’ve taken out some trees and we’ve gotten down to what people really want,” Karen explained.

Center Creek’s big events include Eve in the Orchard, which will take place Sept. 9 and is put on through Fairmont Women of Today, and on Oct. 16 and 17, helicopter rides will be available at the orchard.

“The giant pumpkin contest will be September 25th and 26th. People bring in giant pumpkins and we give them prizes, $200 for 1st, $100 for 2nd and $50 for 3rd,” Karen said.

Speaking of pumpkins, Center Creek also has a lot of pumpkins in its patch.

“They’re ready. It’s been a good pumpkin year. They’re $5 for any size so you can get a huge one, a little one or whatever you prefer,” Karen said.