For $8 General admission (except for those two and under) Saturday, you could shop for home grown pumpkins, so splendidly yellow and orange in their rows just in front of the Daniels’ porch. You could take a hayride through the greater Miracle Farms.
You could get lost in Jack’s Eight-Acre Corn Maze, all the while being further educated by the signs placed at various points which provide little-known facts. (There’s also a two-acre maze if you want to develop your skills.) If you’re short enough, you can also try out each station in the playground with its teeter-totters, bouncy slides, bouncy house and sandboxes.
For a few dollars more, there were pony rides for youngsters, petting zoos for everybody (I fed pellets to baby goats, juvenile sheep and an especially vocal donkey), a bake shop in the store which also sells canned goodies and houses the meat market. The concession stands serve burgers, pieces of pie and many other items. For those of an artistic bent, there was pumpkin painting. For those more inclined to showcase the work of other artists, there was face painting. For hipsters there’s Kat’s Coffee Bistro with a big screen TV in case of a Razorback game, which I saw the end of over a bottle of water cold as the Hogs’ offense.
On the other three weekends of October, musical acts have joined the Fun Day. And an especially acclaimed one is coming this week.
Despite the lack of a concert, this past Saturday drew a crowd of several hundred, a gratifying sight for Jack Daniels, owner of the farm and proud organizer of the Fall Family Fun Days. “Oh man, it makes me feel great. I love to see families come out together and just enjoy the beautiful day and just come out to the country and enjoy the scenery and, and all the fun times we have.”
Daniels is quick to point out these Saturdays are a team effort and the team is big, which sets up the farm and makes it less expensive for those who visit. “We’ll work for months getting these things ready to go. And I'll tell you this year, we've had a lot of help from our sponsors. They've chipped in and helped us keep our costs down and make it more affordable for families when everything is so expensive this day and time. So that really helps us to provide an opportunity for families to come out and enjoy it without breaking the bank.”
He also hopes that young people coming to see the working farm may inspire them to consider farming as a career, a choice that the future of the Arkansas economy depends on more of them making. “We hope more people will be encouraged and be interested in farming because we have to help our farmers to survive,” Daniels said.
Sponsors for Miracle Farms include:
Farm Credit Services
Farmer's Bank & Trust
Pafford Medical Services
United Ag & Turf
First National Bank of Tom Bean
Montgomery Law Firm
Bank OZK
Miracle Farms will open at 659 Nevada 15 this coming Saturday the 28th at 10:00 a.m. and close at 2:00 p.m. Performers will be The Martins, a Gospel trio founded by siblings from Hamburg, Arkansas that has appeared over 20 times in Gaither Homecoming videos, recorded over a dozen albums, received three Grammy nominations and won eight Dove Awards. Admission for grownups to the concert, which is scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Saturday October 28 will be $20. For those aged three to 12, it will be $12
Market season at Miracle Farms will continue in November on Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. In December, on three successive weekends starting December 1st and 2nd, Miracle Farms will host the Holiday Festival of Lights Hayride.
