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ALABASTER – The recent arrival of hundreds of pumpkins at First Presbyterian Church of Alabaster in late September was a welcome sight to families who make a special trip to the church every fall to purchase pumpkins.

The church will operate the pumpkin patch through Halloween night to raise money for two local organizations, Shelby Emergency Assistance and SafeHouse of Shelby County.

“We work with a group that grows pumpkins, and they ship them to us,” First Presbyterian Church of Alabaster Pastor Matthew Ingram said. “Everything we get in profit goes straight to local charities.”

Although the church has welcomed volunteers from the community to help man the pumpkin patch in previous years, only church members will be working this year for health and safety reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Visitors to the pumpkin patch are asked to wear masks while they are on the premises.

Extra masks and hand sanitizer will be available.

The pumpkin patch will be open on weekdays 3-7 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sundays 12-7 p.m. or by appointment. To make an appointment outside of the designated time frames, call the church office at (205) 663-3152.

The church’s pumpkin patch is a long-standing tradition of nearly 15 years, Ingram said, and has restored a bit of normalcy to an otherwise unordinary year.

“Thank you to the community for coming out and supporting what we’re trying to do here,” Ingram said. “We’re glad we’re able to provide some normal activity for us to do during this strange year.”

First Presbyterian Church of Alabaster is located at 8828 Alabama 119 in Alabaster.