For 25 years, it was a way to celebrate fall. After a break, this Whatcom event returns

For those with fond memories of picking out pumpkins and stocking up on apples at Stoney Ridge, you’ll get a chance to relive it this season.

After a three-year break, Debi and Derek Gavette are opening their Stoney Ridge Farm to the public for fall festivities.

The farm at 2092 VanDyk Road will be open to the public on three Fridays and Saturdays in October, starting Oct. 12. Hours are 1-5 p.m. on Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

Many of the same activities are returning to the farm, including train and wagon rides, a corn maze and farm animals. Visitors also can pick out pumpkins and apples to buy. A barbecue food truck will be at the farm, along with a place to buy gifts.

The doughnut machine and kettle corn also are making a return.

After 25 years, the Gavettes decided 2015 would be their last season, partly because the fall festivities became an overwhelming endeavor. It took about nine months to plan and both already had full-time jobs to handle an event that an estimated 25,000 people visited in October. The Gavettes did keep the traditional Christmas events.

It turns out they missed sharing the farm with the public during the fall, so they decided to bring it back on a smaller scale. The public area will be contained to the pumpkin patch around the red barn.

“We are very excited about this,” Debi Gavette said. “We want to do it in a manageable way, so it is a little more condensed than before.”

Debi Gavette said she missed seeing the visitors. She kept hearing from people who missed their trips to the farm each fall.

“We are rich in memories of people,” Gavette said, adding that’s something she wants to keep going.

There’s a $3 admission cost to visit the farm. For further details, visit Stoney Ridge Farm’s Facebook page.