Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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In the pumpkin patch, with hundreds of pumpkins to choose from, Josh Perez, junior in architecture, tries to decide which he likes best. Perez visited the farm for the first time with his wife, Megan Perez, 2000 K-State graduate, as an inexpensive date. We are one of the largest fruit and vegetable farmers in Kansas, with 500 acres, Angela Britt, co-owner of Britt ' s Farm, said. Christopher Hanewinckel To find their way through the corn maze, Michelle Sullivan, junior in animal sciences and industry, Becky Sullivan, freshman in agricultural communications and journalism, and Krista Perkins, freshman in mechanical engineering, create their own trail through corn stalks. At the end, visitors reached the pumpkin patch, where they chose their own pumpkins to take home. Christopher Hanewinckel St in i 15

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by Jessica Durh; iaW iawestiun students own and operate family farm complete with hayrack rides, fresh produce and corn maze during fall months Down a long stretch of dirt road bordered by plowed, yellow fields, an old, groaning tractor surged toward acres of harvested corn stalks and patches of bright orange pumpkins. In tow was an old wooden hayrack, filled to capacity with children, their parents and several K-State students, all bouncing in sync with the rack. October was in full swing at Britt ' s Farm, off Fort Riley Boulevard just outside Manhattan. Each weekend during the month, the public could pay $2.50 for a ride to the farm ' s corn maze and pumpkin patch, as well as a pumpkin of their choice from the patch. The farm ' s retail and wholesale store, where it sold home-grown fruits and vegetables, was open year- round. The farm was owned and operated by Richard and Angela Britt, two K-State students. Angela, junior in hotel and restaurant management, and her husband, Richard, junior in horticulture, purchased the farm in March 2006 from Richard ' s father, four months after their marriage. With the farm, they also acquired the seasonal business of the hay-rack rides, corn maze and pumpkin patch, which had existed for seven years prior to their purchase. Angela said the attraction made autumn the farm ' s most popular season with the public, but she wished more K-State students knew about it. I wish it was more popular, but only certain crowds of K-State students know of us, Angela said. She said the patrons the farm attracted usually heard of it through word-of- mouth. Many were students wanting to eat healthy food or were members of the greek community buying large quantities of produce for philanthropies. She said during the fall, the farm usually attracted 50 to 100 K-State students each week, but during other seasons less than 50 came during one week. I would love to see more K-State students out here, Angela said. It ' s so healthy, and it ' s so much fun. A lot of them don ' t know what a farm is. This is a real, working farm. Richard and Angela weren ' t the only students who worked at the farm and understood the advantages of spending time there. Samantha Patterson, senior in mass communications, worked there for three years and had seen the customers enjoy the autumn attractions each year. The job is so fulfilling, she said. You get to meet people and visit. It ' s not a glamorous job, but for me, it ' s in my blood. I ' ve grown up on the farm and getting dirty. Of the students who did visit the farm, many already had an appreciation of farm life and were attracted to it because it offered them a taste of home, and nothing like it existed anywhere else in the area. Growing up, going to pumpkin patches was one of the most fun things, said Michelle Sullivan, junior in animal sciences and industry . I think it ' s a good experience and a blast, and it ' s a good way to get the family out. We don ' t believe in buying pumpkins at grocery stores — it ' s not nearly as fun. 09 14

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With $7, Anders and Salisbury begin their date by ordering ice-cream cones from Sonic Drive-In. The couple also went to City Park and Radina ' s Coffeehouse and Roastery. We are both poor, Andra said. But there are a lot ot cheap places to have fun in Manhattan. lostyn Brown What would you do with $7 and a couple hours to make a great date? A cheap date. In the 21st century, even $7 wasn ' t enough to pay for one. But sometinnes college students didn ' t have more than that to spend. For Tamara Andra and Brandon Salisbury, however, $7 was plenty to enjoy each other ' s company. Brandon and I are best friends, so we like to talk to each other a lot, Andra, sophomore in secondary education, said. We don ' t really need to do a whole lot to enjoy each other ' s company. I guess we go together so well because we always have fun no matter what we are doing. The couple didn ' t have trouble finding ways to spend their $7, but they did have trouble deciding where to spend it, Andra said. First, they drove to Sonic Drive-In for 99-cent vanilla ice-cream cones. Andra said they picked vanilla cones because they were cheap and she and Salisbury, sophomore in interior architecture, could still hold hands. Afterward, they headed to City Park for a walk and to play on the playground. We went to the park and just walked around, Andra said. We decided to go explore the park because I wanted to play on the swings. We just talked and made fun of each other a lot. That is how we are. To end their date, Andra and Salisbury went to Radina ' s Coffeehouse and Roastery and she ordered a single house coffee and he had a single cafe mocha. Andra said it was a good way to warm up and relax after the park. With 59 cents remaining, the couple thought the $7 date had been both fun and easy to pull off. It was reall y a lot of fun, Salisbury said. As far as the $7 goes, we do so much together that costs little or no money that I knew we could find something to do. It was really easy. After dating for 1 1 months, the couple was used to finding cheap things to do in Manhattan, Salisbury said. Going on walks around campus and watching movies at each other ' s homes were common weekend activities. B ■s 3 • CO l6