During the fall months, several pumpkin patches, apple orchards and things alike opened up in the Eugene area for visitors to participate in seasonal activities. However, some people who visited said they noticed a lack of enforcement for COVID-19 precautions.
Madeline Taylor is a cashier at Johnson Farms. She said that there have not been any significant differences this year compared to previous years.
“We just ask people to wear a mask and social distance as much as they can,” Taylor said. “We’re still doing all of our normal things like our hayrides and everything. We didn’t stop doing anything.”
Sierra Zevenbergen is a junior at University of Oregon. She went to Johnson Farms on Oct. 17, and was surprised to see how things were operating at the farm. Zevenbergen was expecting to see everyone wearing a mask, but from her perspective, only about half the people were.
“The workers weren’t really enforcing social distancing or any COVID stuff, which was interesting,” Zevenbergen said. “It was really surprising. I wasn’t expecting that.”
Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend holding gatherings or events outside if possible. Everything Zevenbergen did at Johnson Farms was outside, but she still felt uncomfortable with some of the activities.
“I was a little uncomfortable on the hayride,” Zevenbergen said. “You had to take a hayride to get over to the pumpkins and they just loaded up the thing. It’s not like they were doing half capacity on it — they just loaded it up and had everyone sitting next to each other. Being outdoors I think does help a lot, but you’re still super close to people.”
The Emerald could not reach management at Johnson Farms after a number of attempts.
UO junior Annalyse Stedman had a similar experience at another farm: Detering Orchards. While the assistant retail manager at this farm said that they are doing more cleaning and requiring people to wear a mask, Stedman had a different experience. Stedman said some people wore a mask, but there were still close crowds.
“There really wasn’t that much monitoring at all,” Stedman said.
Because wearing a mask and social distancing is commonly enforced, both Stedman and Zevenbergen said they were taken aback to see a lack of these behaviors.
“I was a little weirded out, just because wearing a mask and social distancing has become such a norm that when you get into situations where people aren’t really wearing masks or at least attempting to stay further apart, it was weird,” Stedman said.
Ella Jones, the office manager at Detering Orchards, said that employees are required to wear masks, and guests are required to wear masks when social distancing cannot take place. Jones said she feels comfortable at work, as employees are keeping their masks on, there is good airflow and they are sanitizing often.
Zevenbergen said she saw most of the employees wearing a mask. Stedman said in the main area employees were wearing masks, but out in the orchards or while driving the hay bale trucks, they were not.
Taylor said that there have not been any COVID-19 outbreaks at Johnson Farms this season, and she also feels comfortable being at work.
At both Johnson Farms and Detering Orchards there is an indoor area to buy produce and other items. Zevenbergen didn’t go in, and said she didn’t see any signs saying customers have to wear a mask, so she is not sure if people were wearing masks inside. Stedman noticed minimal precautions.
“The only thing I really saw that was significant was at the cash registers for the market they had the hanging plastic shield for the person, and then hand sanitizer,” Stedman said. “Maybe a little sign that was like ‘wear a mask,’ but that was it.”
Nicole Conaway (center) shares that she is glad the pumpkin patch is open as long as people continue to be cautious: “It’s outside, so with people distancing, it feels safe.” Conaway searches for the perfect pumpkins to carve with her daughter, Heather Bishop (left), and her niece and nephew (right). Detering Orchards remains open during the pandemic, with families searching for pumpkins days before Halloween. Oct. 28, 2020. (Madi Mather/Emerald)
