Pumpkin walk brought Warwick Neck to standstill

Warwick Neck had a monster mash-up on Saturday the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the days when the Rocky Point amusement park was open.

Throngs of people descended upon Rocky Point Avenue for the third annual Pumpkin Walk held last weekend at the Rocky Point Farm, with attendance rivaling the events of yesteryear that were once held at the park.

 “It was a huge turnout! The police had to turn people away in order to keep the streets clear enough for emergency vehicles, and the line was all the way to the Rocky Point Park entrance at 7 p.m.,” said Rhonda Shumaker, who along with Joe Gouveia owns the Rocky Point Farm. “The traffic was backed up all the way down to Sandy Lane and West Shore Road, all the way to Morris Farm, and all the way to the post office on West Shore Road. People said it was like the old days, when there was a concert at Rocky Point Park.”

Scheduled for Saturday and Sunday evenings beginning at six, the walk snaked through the blueberry farm grounds and featured hundreds of handcarved pumpkins and spooky sights such as living statues, walkways lined with bag candles, tiki torches and fire pits for roasting marshmallows.

 “Last year we did about 1,400 people a night and it all went smoothly. We had two detail police officers working,” said Shumaker. “We went to great lengths to get the big parking lot at Rocky Point opened up and only 50 cars parked there the first night and zero cars parked there the second night. We hired four parking lot attendants to direct the cars and also hired a DEM officer to monitor the parking lot, all money wasted, over $1,500, as the crowd was small and there were no traffic problems or line issues.”

That was last year.

Using that event as the basis for planning this year’s walk, Shumaker and Gouveia decided to scale back parking operations, believing them to be unnecessary. The large parking lot inside Rocky Point Park is currently under construction, and appeared to be unavailable as it is being fixed before winter.

“So this year, we did not hire police detail and did not ask to have the parking lot opened, and we were slammed with traffic! The police were upset with us because we caused a safety hazard,” she said. “They started turning cars and pedestrians away at 7 p.m., if you believe the Facebook comments.”

Shumaker believes social media played a large part in attendance doubling since last year. She said that multiple pages, such as the Warwick Tourism Facebook page, which has about 13,000 followers, spread news of the event further than she could have imagined.

 “Our own Facebook event postings showed a lot lower number, around 400 people going each night, and 1,500 people interested,” she said. “When I saw these large numbers on the Tourism posting, I didn't know if all these people were really going to come or not. Apparently, a lot of them came.”

 After the first evening, according to the farmers, they were told by police that they needed to have a parking plan in place for Sunday’s event or it may be shut down. Sunday’s walk was eventually canceled due to the rain, which Shumaker felt was a good thing because they were unsure how they would solve the traffic issues on such short notice.  

“Because it’s on private property, and under agritourism laws, farms are allowed to hold events on their property,” said Shumaker, who added that a permit was not needed because of that. Shumaker also said an officer on scene Saturday night said there were five mobile units directing traffic away from the event at 7:30 p.m. A log of calls provided by the police department shows multiple inquiries from nearby residents complaining about the congestion and the hazards it presented. “On the upside, we sold 2,500 plus tickets, let 300 plus two and under kids in for free, and roasted over 2,000 marshmallows,” said Shumaker. “The walk was gorgeous, the drummers we hired were amazing and the weather was perfect. Everyone who made it in had a great time.”

To get there, people waited in line for up to an hour. The event was staffed by volunteers from the Warwick Neck Improvement Association, the Warwick Neck Garden Club and a few of Joe and Rhonda’s family members and friends. Cash donations will be made to both clubs again this year, and last year they donated $3,000 to each group. Tickets were $5 for adults, $3 for kids 2-14.

 “The line moved pretty fast as we had two cashiers working and they were able to process the tickets very efficiently,” she said. “On the downside, many people who were turned away by the police were steaming mad. There were quite a few people who drove from Connecticut and Massachusetts, who had to turn around and go home without getting in.”

Learning from this year’s event, plans are already underway for next season. The farm plans to sell a limited number of tickets online, and hopes to explore a timing system that will spread visitors out throughout the evening.

“We will park the cars in both Rocky Point parking lots, and we will have a parking lot attendant,” said Shumaker. “We will hire police detail. We will have three cashiers.”

She also hopes that, by next October, the Rocky Point parking lots will be available for use without having to get special permission from the Department of Environmental Management.

 “It seems like it is in the best interest of the city of Warwick to get the parking lot done and have it be available to the public. I know they have been working on it this past month, and I was very disappointed that it wasn't ready in time for the walk this year,” she said.  “But, it was very smooth and beautiful inside the event, and everyone who came in went away happy.”