90 Foot US Flag On Display In Halifax This Sunday

UPDATE: EXHIBIT CANCELLED DUE TO HIGH WINDS

National Flag Exhibit
Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Corner of Routes 106 and 58

There will be a showing of the 90 foot American Flag which was recently raised at Mount Rushmore on Sunday, June 12 from 4 PM to 6 PM at the intersection of Routes 106 and 58.

You won't have trouble finding it... as I recall, the flag needs to be lifted with a crane. It should be easy to spot.

Music provided by Delyte DJ Services. There is also an antique car show going on at the same time.

You can't get much more 'Merica than checking out a 90 foot Old Glory, player. No one will ever be able to question your patriotism.

The flag will be considerably better than the ones pictured here. I'm just emptying the Photobucket.

Pimping Plympton!

We have a large coverage area. We include Plymouth, Brockton, Barnstable, New Bedford, Fall River and Taunton in this area. None of those are Shanghai or London, but they are rather large when compared with Duxbury, Acushnet or Truro.

Plympton (pop. 2800 or so) is also much smaller than New Bedford or Brockton. Plympton is furthermore much smaller than Duxbury or Falmouth. It is Small Town, even by Small Town standards. I think of Plympton as a small town, and I live in a village of 4000 people.

However, the roads we travel making this website have led us to Plympton many times recently. We've been here for Halloween decorations, fall foliage, cranberry bogs and harvest festivals. I haven't had to even get near Fall River when doing these articles, which are admittedly rural in nature.

We'll use today's article to thank little Plympton for hosting us!

Plympton, once you dot the i's and cross the t's, is sort of the October capital of Southeastern Massachusetts. We recognize that the state champ is Salem, and that the reasoning is sound.

However, Plympton is as rural as eastern Massachusetts gets.

For 11 months of the year, there really is nothing there. I don't fear insulting Plympton residents by saying that, because I think that those people like it this way.

Some People Like Cities, or even the just-off-a-highway ease of a bedroom suburb. Some People, to put it simply, Don't.

I had time to kill with five students once when I was teaching. I got them on Mapquest, which was more of a novelty at the time. We were going to Halifax for a class fishing trip, so I thought I'd have them recognize the region a bit before they went.

While doing this, the kids- who were all from Dorchester and Cambridge and so forth- remarked on how sparsely populated the region is. I gave them the "people there like it that way" explanation that I used a few paragraphs ago. This led to a discussion where all of these city kids who live in tenement buildings with 500 people in them were pretty much united in their belief that the country people might be on to something with this trees-as-neighbors philosophy.

They phrased it more colorfully. "That's the kind of sh*t where Jason jumps out with the axe," said one. Another, who I'd gather had seen The Beverly Hillbillies opening at least once, thought that you could discover oil by shooting into the ground there.

Just for laughs, I had them zoom around on the map some, to try to find the Most Isolated Guy In The Region. I don't want to out the guy- whom it is safe to assume is a man who wishes to enjoy his privacy- but he lives in Plympton.

We did a few trips to Plympton in October. As opposed to, say, March, October holds plenty of reasons for someone to visit Plympton.

We hit Billingsgate Farm in early October. They are somewhat famous, as they are off Route 106 on the road from the Plymouth area to the Bridgewater area. Any commuting Bridgewater State College University kid from Duxbury or Marshfield probably spent some time rolling down 106.

We popped in to get some fresh produce (we like buying local when we can), and we also got a pumpkin. We were psyched to find that they had a pumpkin patch, a corn maze and all sorts of other stuff that you don't get to see in normal suburbia.

They also have a hay ride for the kids, which is something every kid should do at dusk as Halloween nears.

You can kind of see why people like Plympton just by looking around the fringes of the farm stand area.

Plympton has a lot of farms. You can spend several weekends during the Harvest Season banging around Plympton. I know this because I have spent several of the last few weekends banging around Plympton.

Even if you never get out of the car, Plympton is cool to drive though. This, early November, is the end of the foliage season in this part of the state.

If you do get out of the car, you have a lot of options. One of the better ones is Sauchuk Farm. Sauchuk is a working corn farm that doubles as a harvest theme park.

We were there on Halloween, just before they closed and we went trick or treating.

Sauchuk Farm rules if you are a kid. You have several awesome options. This is after you soak in farmland as far as the eye can see.

My kid liked the corn maze, part of which is visible in the picture above. We got deep in it without ever finishing, as we went out the same way we went in. We cheated, but we got to the elevated part for some panorama shots.

Estimates for maze-completion ranged from an hour to 30 minutes (with help), but I bet that we could have got 90-150 minutes if we continued to let the 8 year old be the head navigator.

We also liked the Corn Cannon, which is a deluxe potato-launcher thing they use to fire corn cobs 50 yards into the field. If you hit the furthest target, you get a pumpkin!

They had a food tent with fried dough, kettle corn and hot dogs, among other things. Eat there AFTER going on the bouncy house thing (no walls nor roof, not a house, but I don't know what you call it otherwise), if you know what's good for you.

They had a hay ride sort of thing that went out to the pumpkin patch. We didn't get that ride, as we arrived sort of late and decided to instead get lost in the corn maze. We also did the duck races, where the ducks are powered by hand pumps.

Of course they had a cow train, as any self-respecting farm should.

We could have spent a year there, as long as we didn't have to do the farm work. Farmers have a hard life, and I probably serve the world best here, entertaining.

We had to split, however. We had trick-or-treating to do, and the place shuts down at 6. Farmers go to bed early, so to better be up before the sun. Circadian cycle, or whatever they call that. That corn doesn't hoe itself, or whatever you do to corn.

We got one last shot before we split.

We spent Devil's Night in Plympton, as well.

We were invited to Snow Family Farm by Lindsay Snow herself, whose family was hosting their 24th annual Halloween party for the neighborhood. For the high price of nothing at all, they park you, feed you, light up a bonfire and take the kids on a haunted hayride. No one even came close to asking me for money.

My favorite part of this was the bonfire. Actually bonfires, plural. They had some steel drums with various Halloween stuff carved into them.

We'll end with those, because it's November 2nd and I really need to let go of my love for Halloween. We have Fall Foliage and Cranberry Bogs to shoot.

Thanks, Plympton!

A Visit To Billingsgate Farm In Plympton

from the Billingsgate Farm website

Let it be known that we favor certain local establishments in our reading area. You'll notice this as the column spills out over the years.

We regularly visit Mann Farms in Buzzards Bay, which is the source of most of our cranberry pictures. The fact that it is across the street from my neighborhood helps things along.

When I make tea for extended writing sessions, I use nothing in it but local honey made by Jenny Dee's Bees. I need to convince Jenny to bottle her honey in little plastic squeezy-bears, but that will only just improve something that is already awesome.

When I need farm stand stuff, I go to Billingsgate Farm in Plympton.

Very few and perhaps not any Shanghai tweens were injured by sweatshop drill presses making this pumpkin.

A lot of people buy their produce and even their pumpkins from Wal-Mart, and that's all well and good. We all wander into Wally now and then.

However, if doing so means that you drive by a local farm where you can take the pumpkin off the vine yourself, you're makig a great and terrible mistake.

Almost all Americans were farmers once, and the ones who weren't were almost toddler-dependent upon those who were. Times change, and we went from an agricultural nation to an industrial nation to a service economy. Farming, and the farmland, shrank away from the norm.

 Many and perhaps most Americans might not even know a farmer these days. That's a mistake, and it's one you can rectify for your family by pulling into somewhere like Billingsgate Farm.

"Massachusetts" isn't what comes to mind when you talk farms, but we have people out there putting in work. 

Your local farm stand will fill many of your culinary needs. Have no doubt that one of the important people to know during the proverbial Zombie Apocalypse would be a farmer. I'd be dead as soon as the last Pop-Tarts went bad, personally.

Not the farmer. Old McDonald, if he had enough kids and enough guns, could hold out just fine if the ship hit the fan. Well, at least he wouldn't starve.

In a more realistic scenario, we can remember the words of, uhm, somebody (editor's note: William Jennings Bryan):

"The great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms, and grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country."

You can't speak more plainly than that, player...

How do you like them apples?

It is also Ground Zero for any Halloween shopping.

Remember, Halloween is at least tied to ancient Harvest Festivals. For most of human history, communities lived or died with the quality of their harvest. You can base a pretty good short story around people who are willing to kill to see to a good harvest.

Shirley Jackson's masterpiece wouldn't work at the Market Basket, and would only work in allegory at Wal-Mart. Linus, to my knowledge, wasn't waiting for the Great Pumpkin in the parking lot at the Winn-Dixie, or however they spell that.

Linus knows enough to go right to the source. He's in a pumpkin patch. Why go anywhere else, especially some big Eastern corporation?

I may be wrong (I was born in Dorchester), but I think this is a pumpkin blossom before it gets big.

You can also get other important Halloween stuff at a farm stand. They have corn stalks, Indian corn, hay bales, and whatever else you may need.

You don't grow Mouthwash or Ceiling Fans at local farms, so I can understand why you might go to a Wal-Mart for things like that. Society is good like that, they congregate stuff you need near wherever you may be needing it.

However, if you drive by the actual Harvest to go to something with asphalt around it to get the stuff for your home's harvest season look, you're just fooling yourself... no matter what you tell yourself.

Places like Billingsgate Farm get superpowers at Halloween, too.

Sally won't come home with dirty knees from this pumpkin patch, at least in theory...

Take the whole Fam Damily down to a farm stand AT LEAST to get a pumpkin. Walking around the perimeter of a farm to get your pumpkin beats down getting one out of a box at the Target.

You'll notice that you can get them out of a big box if you really want to. Either that, or those boxes are going to whoever will be marking them up before you buy them. Why pay a middleman?

Besides, farmers often go to great lengths to get people to support their local farms. Billingsgate farm becomes a sort of low-key theme park during the harvest season.

Even before you get out of the car, you're surrounded by pumpkins and gourds of all sorts. Never underestimate how cool that is in a society that is largely suburban and urban.

Tremendous for Jack-o-Lanterns.

Billingsgate Farm goes all-in during the harvest season. Here's what this little farm is offering the community:

- A Corn Maze. They should leave it open after Halloween during blizzards for families that wish to re-enact the climax of The Shining. The GPS feature where you can find your way out of the Billingsgate Farm maze would have most likely made things end better for Jack Nicholson.

- The aforementioned pumpkin patch. If "aforementioned" doesn't mean whatever part of the story we had the pumpkin patch in, well, you know what we mean.

- A food and picnic area, if you want to stretch the trip out. You never go wrong eating right from the farm, player.

- Don't forget the Hay Rides!

Hay, Hay Hay...

Maze Hours & Admission

Be prepared to get lost on a fantastic adventure. Inside our 3-acre Maize Quest® Corn Maze, you will find twisting pathways, questions and answers, and picture rubbings. It’s a maze, it’s a game, it’s educational, and it’s FUN!

General Admission
TICKET PRICES:
Adults (13yrs and older)…………………………………….$10.95/person
Youth (3-12yrs)………………………………………………$9.95/child

> Click here to sign up for our mailing list and get $1 OFF regular admission

Discounted Prices:
Senior Citizen (65yrs and older)……………………………$8.95/person
Police/Military………………………………………………$8.95/person
Girl Scouts………………………………………………….$2 OFF admission
Bradford Inn & Suites Guests………………………………$2 OFF admission

Children 2 years and under are FREE with a paying adult
All youths must be accompanied by an adult – no exceptions!
Note: Last tickets are sold 1 hour before closing

All attractions are included in the maze admission except refreshments, pumpkins, and items at the farm stand.

Corn stalks are essential to proper Halloween decorating.

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS:
Pumpkins……………………………………………………Priced per pound

GROUPS
Visit our Groups page for discounted rates and info for groups of 15 or more.

2015 Corn Maze Operation Season & Hours
Billingsgate Corn Maze & Farm Attractions are open in the fall September 19th through November 1st.

Open Weekends Only !
Saturday & Sunday 10AM – 6PM

Groups of 15 or more may book during the week with advance registration.

Flashlight Nights (Extended Hours)
Come try our maze in the dark for a different twist – but be sure to bring a flashlight in case you “get lost”!

October 17, 2015: Open 6PM – 9PM
October 24, 2015: Open 6PM – 9PM

Special Events/Holidays
Monday, October 12th – Columbus Day (10AM – 6PM)
Sunday, November 1, 2015 – Dog Days at the Maze (10AM – 6PM) – Bring your dog to the maze!

Rules
No Alcohol allowed anywhere on the farm
Do not run in the maze.
Do not smoke in the maze.
Do not break the ribbon.
Do not cut through the corn.
Do not pick the corn.
Do not use foul language.
No pets are permitted in the maze

Learn more at Billingsgate Farm.com