Fun for fall, fun for all: APSO and Energizers support accessible Hueytown-based pumpkin patch

By: Javacia Harris Bowser

Four years ago, Jennifer Dobson and her family left a Birmingham-area pumpkin patch in tears.

Her daughter, Lily, uses a wheelchair, and the pumpkin patch the Dobson family had visited didn’t have the accommodations Lily needed, so Lily had to be carried through the patch.

“We knew as she got older and as she got bigger, things would get a little bit harder,” Dobson said. She and her husband adopted Lily, who’s now 12, from Haiti when Lily was 3 years old. Trying to navigate the pumpkin patch that day – even with the help of Dobson’s older daughter, Anna Lee – was overwhelming.

“We all left frustrated and in tears that day,” Dobson recalled.

When the Dobsons returned to their home in Hueytown, Jennifer Dobson looked at the five acres on which her house sits and got an idea.

“I told my husband, we could do this,” Dobson said. “We can make an accessible pumpkin patch for families and kids like Lily.”

The Alabama Weather Blog is pleased to present an excerpt from a featured article in partnership with the Alabama News Center. For the full post including images, videos, and related links, please visit the article HERE.

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