Getting into the season: Piney Acres Farms celebrates its 10th fall season, opening this weekend

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By Sadie Hunter

 

Since childhood, Rex Zenor said he had a vision for what is now Piney Acres Farm.

The 73-acre farm at 1115 E. 1000 N. in Fortville initially began as a Christmas Tree Farm in 2000. But in 2006, Zenor also began offering fall attractions. This year, Piney Acres will celebrate its 10th fall season, beginning Sept. 24 and lasting through Halloween.

An Indianapolis native, Zenor calls himself a transplant, and a childhood experience with his father, who would later die when Zenor was 10 years old, laid the foundation for Piney Acres.

“When I was little, I took a tractor ride, and I thought, ‘This is just neat.’ I recall it being a pig farm … but it’s just like something happened. At that point in time, it just overcame me. I wanted to go to college. I wanted to know how many cows to put on a field, how many acres I’m going to have to buy, but things get in the way, you know, high school, cars, girls, marriage, kids, work. So when I turned 50, I said, ‘Well, if I don’t do it now, I never will.’ (The inspiration) had nothing to do with my dad dying … but I probably hung on to that experience that I had with my dad on that farm.”

During the fall season, Piney Acres is open every day, with extended hours on the weekends. Following opening week, Zenor will open the farm’s three haunted attractions – the haunted loft, haunted corn maze and haunted hay ride – Sept. 30.

“We also get a lot of interest with our farm animals because even though we’ve only got a few, some people have never seen a live chicken. It’s always been a picture, or its been dressed in cellophane, ready to eat.”

After Halloween, the farm will close for three weeks to prepare for its Christmas season, which starts Nov. 18, the weekend before Thanksgiving.

“It was just something I always wanted to do,” Zenor said. “Christmas was always special to me simply because of the way my family developed. My dad had died, and my aunts and uncles always celebrated Christmas with us. Then, just through the courses of my life, I kind of tied my carpentry field into Christmas, which was growing trees, which was wood. One thing evolved into another, and that’s how it became a Christmas tree farm in the beginning.”

CIVIL WAR REENACTMENT & SPECIAL EVENTS

On the weekend of Oct. 14, the farm will host its first-ever civil war reenactment over three days.

“These are real re-enactors who do this five or six times each year,” Zenor said. “We’re trying to grow into it, and we’re wanting to do even more, like a native Indian pow wow, antique tractor shows. Some farms you go out, and it’s all modern, relative to today’s world, but I just believe firmly that you can’t predict your future unless you know where you come from. Knowing your history – that’s what I would like it to be.”

VISIT THE PINEY ACRES FARM

Address: 1115 E. 1000 N., Fortville.

Hours: Noon to 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. Haunted attractions open Sept. 30 and are only open on Fridays and Saturdays at dusk, and the haunted loft begins at 7 p.m.

For sale: Pumpkins, Indian corn, corn stalks, concessions.

Animals: Chickens, pigs, sheep and goats can be fed for 25 cents per handful.

Kids zone: The farm’s biggest fall attraction is its kids zone, which includes a one-acre kids corn maze, mining in the Piney Acres Gem Mine, a playground, a spider-climbing net, rock wall climbing, cow barrel train, a rope maze, jump pad, climbing tires, sandbox, pedal carts, cornhole, horseshoes, games and more. Costs $15 per child. Parents accompanying kids are free.

Haunted attractions: Includes a haunted loft, haunted corn maze and haunted hay ride. Prices vary. Buy discounted tickets at pineyacresfarm.com/fall-season.

 


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