Page 6 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2020 Eighteenth annual pumpkin truck arrives, at last By Tara Vocino C ountry came to town on Sunday afternoon when two North Carolina residents and their Pomeranian pooch delivered approximately 4,000 pumpkins in front of First Congregational Church. Truck driver Stacey and Ashley Rogers with their eightmonth-old dog, Milo, rode for the past five days in a 74-footlong and 13-foot high Hurricane Express tractor trailer. The pumpkin sale will benefit the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico, where they’re grown, and the Saugus church. “It’s mighty cold here,” Stacey Rogers said in a classic Driver Stacey Rogers, wife Ashley, and their dog, Milo, drove approximately 1,000 miles from Franklin, N.C., to deliver the pumpkins in front of First Congregational Church in Saugus on Sunday afternoon. (Advocate photos by Tara Vocino)` Volunteer Logan Knight unloaded the pumpkins quickly, handing them down assembly-style. Kellee Nop, Valerie Vong and Kellsun Sim, 6. Erin Doherty, Theadora Anastos and Greta Doherty chose the green and “pimple” pumpkin. Looking for a home loan? WE ’RE HERE TO DO RIGHT BY YOU . FIXED RATE MORT G AGES— NO POINTS . 15 YEAR 30 YEAR 2.625% R ATE 2.990% R ATE EVERETT – 419 BROADWAY LYNNFIELD – 7 7 1 SALEM STREET 61 7-38 7 - 1 1 10 2.730% APR* 3.048% APR* Learn more about our rates at EVERETTBANK . COM *Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is effective October 14, 2020 and is subject to change. All rates and APR’s are calculated based on a $250,000 loan for an owner-occupied single family dwelling with a 20% down payment. Rates are also based on Loan to Value and credit scores. The monthly principal and interest payment for a 15 Year fixed rate mortgage is $6.73 per $1,000 borrowed. The monthly principal and interest payment for a 30 Year fixed rate mortgage is $4.21 per $1,000 borrowed. Payments do not include taxes and insurance. Your payment may be greater if the loan is secured by a first lien. Loans are subject to credit approval. NMLS #443050. Member FDIC Member DIF Brothers Kelan, 5, and Porter Doherty, 4, have a white, red and orange pumpkin backdrop behind them. southern accent immediately after arriving off the truck. “We love seeing children’s faces light up.” Children were eagerly awaiting the much-anticipated arrival that was weeks late and reduced in size due to COVID-19 complications. “I want that one, mommy,” children could be heard saying in the distance. Rogers said they deliver Christmas trees, strawberries and tomatoes cross-country seasonally. Event Organizer Carl Spencer said 40 volunteers, some church members, helped to unload the pumpkins off the truck for approximately three hours while Rogers got a much-needed pit stop. His daughter, Amy, said they’re known as the “pumpkin church” regionally. Her mother, Karen, said taking pictures in the pumpkin patch is often a familial tradition. “Most people put the pumpkin on the stairs, then carve them,” said Carl Spencer, who met his wife, Karen, in a mainstream Protestant first grade Sunday school class. More pumpkins of all shapes, sizes, colors and textures are slated to arrive at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The patch is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., through November 1. For information or to sign up for a shift, call 781233-9196. —Tara Vocino may be reached at printjournalist1@gmail.com.
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