Google Calendar

Let’s meet up and play on the playground, take a ride to get pumpkins, and do the corn maze.
Playground is free, Pumpkins are $10 each, corn maze is $7 pp. Pay on your own and go at your own pace, come/leave when you’d like. Gates are open at 12. (I will be there closer to 12:30).

Please RSVP here so we know how to set up the room! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ANcydU23XHPsRs1YIIxOHbrtLSBcOTu-agkaepeNiyo/edit?usp=sharing

Join the Carroll County Homeschool Community Center on Friday, October 9, 2026, from 6:30–7:30 PM for an entertaining and educational presentation that brings the story of legendary magician and escape artist Harry Houdini to life.

Maryland magician Dave Thomen of D’s Magic will present his Reading Magic program, combining storytelling, magic, history, and a Houdini escape.

The presentation explores a lesser-known side of Houdini: his passion for reading, learning, and collecting books. Houdini's Library, available in both children's and adult editions, documents his collection of more than 15,000 books.

Houdini famously said, “My brain is the key that sets me free.” Dave uses this idea to explore the connection between Houdini's legendary escapes and the knowledge, preparation, and lifelong learning that helped shape his career.

During the presentation, families will hear stories about Houdini's life, discover the important role reading played in his journey, and experience a live Houdini escape.

Dave Thomen recently participated in a historic Houdini tribute in Appleton, Wisconsin, joining more than 200 magicians in a simultaneous performance of Houdini's Siberian Chain Escape. The 2026 event marked the 100th anniversary of Houdini's death.

Come discover the man behind the escapes and explore how reading, curiosity, and learning helped fuel one of history's most legendary performers.

Friday, October 9, 2026
6:30–7:30 PM
Carroll County Homeschool Community Center

🎉🎈 **KIDS DAY IS COMING!** 🎈🎉

We heard a little rumor that some schools are **CLOSED on Friday, October 16th**… so we decided to throw a HUGE celebration right here at the farm! 🚜🎃

We’re filling our **5-acre playground with INFLATABLES GALORE!** We’ve even heard whispers of an **80-foot obstacle course! 🤯**

🎟️ **KIDS DAY ADMISSION — $20 PER CARLOAD!**
**A $20 Carload Ticket is required to enter the playground area that day.** Load up the kids, bring some friends, and come spend the day with us!

And there’s plenty more happening around the farm:

🍔 **Food Trucks:** 10 AM–9 PM
🎈 **Inflatables & Playground Fun**
🎃 **Wagon Rides** running throughout the day to our Pick-Your-Own Pumpkin Patch
🌽 **Corn Maze** open for exploring
👻 **Halloween Trail** opens at 6 PM
💙🎃 **Blue the Pumpkin Storybook Wagon Ride** opens at **6 PM!**

**Blue the Pumpkin** is a special family-friendly story brought to life along a wagon ride through the farm. With a live narrator telling Blue’s story along the way, it’s a great experience for the little ones with a wonderful message about **accepting others and celebrating what makes each of us different.** 💙

Make a whole day of it! Come early, let the kids burn off some energy on the inflatables, grab lunch from the food trucks, pick a pumpkin, tackle the corn maze, and then stick around as **Blue the Pumpkin and the Halloween Trail open at 6 PM!**

🛍️ And don't forget to stop by the **Farm Market** before heading home. We’ll be stocked with fresh produce, meats, cheeses, breads, baked goods, fall favorites, and so much more! 🍎🥧

🚗 **REMEMBER: A $20 CARLOAD TICKET IS REQUIRED TO ACCESS THE PLAYGROUND ON KIDS DAY.**

https://www.ticketsignup.io/TicketEvent/KidsDayOnTheFarm

📅 **Friday, October 16th**
📍 **Local Homestead Products**
2425 Marston Rd
New Windsor, MD 21776

🎃🎈 **Pack the car and come spend your day off at the farm — and stay for a full evening of fall fun!** 💙👻

Lake Roland Red Trail
is a well-traveled lollipop trail, so it's easy to modify the length if you are bringing younger children. We'll meet at the parking lot and follow the suggested route on AllTrails along the lake.

Help us get the second floor dance-ready for Saturday!

Please use the instructions below to register to volunteer. There are 25 spots available.
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Please follow these instructions to register online for your reserved event(s):
1. Visit the First Fruits Farm event registration page: https://cerv.is/0020rCCHC (This link will only display the events specifically reserved for your group).
2. Select your desired event and follow the on screen instructions to access the CERVIS registration system. If this is your first time using the CERVIS online registration system, you will be prompted to create a Volunteer Profile.

Event Reservation Code: CCHC

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Friendly reminders:

We have gloves available here, but feel free to bring your own pair of work gloves
We will have water in the fields for you - it is best not to bring water bottles into the fields, we collect lots of them!
Please wear sneakers or closed toed shoes - no flip flops and no crocs!
Please - especially in the heat of the summer - have everyone eat a good breakfast. The heat can be a challenge, and seems to most impact folks that have not eaten.

Please let us know you are attending here.  Everyone needs an armband, even to sit around the fire. I reserved the Chickadee Fire Ring. Feel freee to bring Smores ingredients to share. The maze opens at 7, so please arrive between 6 and 6:45 to enjoy the fire and group up. 

Tired people: don't be scared, we are never there until 10!

🎃 Sleepy Hollow at the Olney Theater 🎃

● WEDNESDAY, October 28, 2026
● 10:00 am matinee
● ages 13 and older, recommended
● $20 per person
● The Olney Theater
2001 Olney Sandy Spring Rd, Olney, MD 20832
(Parking is free)

🎟 Ticket prices for this show normally sell for $55 - $107 per person. We are incredibly lucky to receive student discount matinee pricing for only $20 per person! There are only 30 seats set aside for our group. Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m_vXRQqFrHgfI6Ikdmblj73nqzoVCghGL7vHj9lmLs8/edit?usp=drivesdk

💲 Please pay ahead to reserve your spot. You can either pay me in person on Tuesdays or venmo me @JenStorey. I will need to submit a single payment for our group on 10/15. Please keep in mind that once I submit the payment, I will not be able to offer a refund if you need to cancel but you may offer your spots to someone else if that works for you.

⚠️ Please keep in mind that this is a wordless production, no dialogue will be spoken. The story is told through the actors' movements and expressions. The Olney Theatre is a historic theater that has only 150 seats so performances feel more intimate. There will also be a Q&A after the show!

🏟 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow will be performed in the 150 seat Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre. The theatre lobby opens one hour before the performance times, and seating usually begins 30 minutes before the scheduled curtain time. All of our audience seating areas are raked to allow for optimal views. That does mean that most seats require walking stairs. In the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab there is always one ground-level row. No outside food, snacks or alcohol is allowed on campus. Parking is always free.

🎭 Synetic Theater's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow! Audiences were blown away in 2025, when we invited Synetic Theater to perform their award-winning, wordless version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Now they’re back, but this time they’re tackling a story with classic American roots in the Olney Theater.
In the haunted village of Sleepy Hollow, the past refuses to stay buried. Years after a brutal Revolutionary War encounter leaves a Hessian soldier beheaded and his beloved horse slain, the fallen rider returns as the legendary Headless Horseman—an apparition stalking the shadowed forests in search of what was taken from him. Inspired by Washington Irving’s classic tale, Sleepy Hollow reimagines the familiar legend as a haunting story of love, guilt, revenge, and redemption. Blending supernatural horror with theatrical spectacle, it asks whether the true monsters are the spirits who haunt us—or the deeds we would rather forget.
Appropriate for ages 13+
By Washington Irving
Adapted by Nathan Weinberger
Directed by Paata Tsikurishvili
Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili

📍The Olney Theatre is a 14 acre campus with three indoor theaters and one outdoor theater. It is 88 years old, having started as a Summer Playhouse in 1938. OlneyTheatre.org

Costumes Encouraged! Bring a snack, drink, or game to share. We will provide pizza. Please rsvp here, so we have an idea of who is attending. 

Trick-or-Treating is 6-8 in my neighborhood. Join our community center crew that will assuredly leave right at 6, and join us back in the basement afterwards to do a massive candy trade.