Pumpkins symbolize the beginning of fall and the holiday season, and carving them was always a tradition in my family. One year, my dad helped my sister & I make our pumpkins into Bert and Ernie from "Sesame Street." In the years that followed, our pumpkin carving creations varied from intricate designs -- particularly my sister's -- to the standard triangle eyes, nose and toothless grin.

When my family lived in Pennsylvania, every year we would drive to Schramm's Farm a few miles from our home to pick our own pumpkins. My sister and I would run through the fields to find the best pumpkin. Scarecrows dressed as the Grim Reaper, Miss Piggy, and characters from the "Wizard of Oz" cast shadows over people picking their pumpkins. After darting through rows of pumpkins and finding the right one, we would sip scalding cider and cocoa. A maze was made out of hay bales and corn stalks that we would get lost in every year.

We took the pumpkins home to live in the chilly garage until a few days before Halloween, when we would gather around a newspaper-covered table. We would dig out the cold, gooey insides, eager to make our very own pumpkin into a creative work of art to display on Halloween night.

Each of our photo albums has a few pages with my sister and I at Schramm's Farm. The task of picking a pumpkin each year stands vivid in my memory. Unfortunately, after moving to Utah, we were no longer able to pick our own pumpkins. Instead we were forced to scavenge through cardboard boxes at the grocery store to pick our pumpkins.

There's nothing like picking your own pumpkin from the patch where it was grown, and I thought I'd never have that pleasure again. So, I was pleasantly surprised to discover -- while on a story assignment for the newspaper -- that Tooele has its very own pick-your-own pumpkin patch on Vine Street. The Pankratz Pumpkin Patch has only been around for a few years, so many people may not know of its existence.

Halloween is just a few days away and if you have the procrastination bug and haven't gotten a pumpkin or two yet, picking your own pumpkin is a fun way to get one. At the Pankratz patch, kids, families and couples can scour five acres of pumpkin land and venture out to pick their own orange globe. Although this pumpkin patch doesn't have the same things as the patch I went to as a child, they do offer hay rides.

Instead of celebrating Halloween only on Oct. 31, why not extend the holiday to the days before with carnivals, festivals and pumpkin-picking. Families can make these traditions that children will remember and look forward to every year.

Picking your own pumpkin is one of those traditions that sticks in the mind of a child. Much like trick-or-treating, pumpkin-picking should have a place in everyone's happy Halloween.

missy@tooeletranscript.com