Bengtson’s Pumpkin Farm: The Happiest Place in Illinois

This is what Walt Disney would have created if he had been a pumpkin farmer.

Bengtson’s Pumpkin Farm in Homer Glen is virtually a theme park devoted to the great pumpkin. About the only thing missing is a massive roller coaster.

Bengtson’s has kiddie rides, entertainment, attractions -- even animatronic figures. It’s a fantastic place for families to take their preteen children, as our New Mom In Town Kristi Gilbert discovered on .

I had no idea Kristi was going to write about Bengtson’s when I visited the farm the day after she did. I’ll try not to duplicate too much of the information in her fine column.

When I arrived early Sunday afternoon, the main parking lot was already full and they were parking cars in a large grassy field across West 151^st Street from the farm. It was a picture-perfect day, and soon the grass parking area would be largely filled, too, attesting to the popularity of Bengtson’s Pumpkin Farm.

“The weather is everything,” said Dave Bengtson. “Since we opened on Saturday, we’ve really been fortunate with some real nice weather.”

Dave and his wife, Pamela, are co-owners of the farm with Dave’s brother, Dan.

“We started out in 1981 with just a pumpkin patch,” Dave recalled.

At the time, there weren’t many pumpkin farms in the Chicago area, he said. Sonny Acres on North Avenue (another good place to visit) in West Chicago is the only one he can remember.

“I think we got a couple ideas and started from there,” Dave said. “I guess it just evolved over the years. We just kept adding things.”

They certainly did.

What’s new?

This year, they added the 90-foot Mega Fun Slide, a new playground for kids, the Gigantic Corn Box, and the Vortex Straw Tunnel with a Twist.

The Gigantic Corn Box holds 500 bushels of corn. It’s like a big sandbox, only with corn instead of sand for kids to play in. The Vortex is a tube with black lights in it inside the straw tunnel.

“It’s pretty neat to go through,” Dave said.

He asked me if I had gone through it. I told him no.

“You didn’t come with kids, did you,” he said. It was more of a statement than a question.

Dave acknowledged that Bengtson’s is designed to attract families with children.

“That’s the demographic,” he said.

That’s not to say you can’t have fun here unless you have kids with you.

“We’ve had some first dates,” Dave said. “We’ve had a few people propose here.”

Going hog wild over pig races

Adults and children alike get a big kick out of the pig races that take place every hour on the half hour. The bleachers in front of Pork Chop Downs are often filled to capacity.

“The pig races are extremely popular,” Dave said. “I’ll be a thousand feet away and I’ll hear a roar like somebody had just scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl.”

I made sure I was at the pig races at the appointed half hour, arriving in time to see the master of ceremonies, aka Pork Chop, warm up the crowd with some jokes about his assistant, Hambone.

“Hambone went to the University of Swineology,” he said. “He got a degree in pig Latin. If you want to know anything about the pigs, just ask Hambone. He’ll talk to the pigs and ask them for you.”

Hambone got the pigs into the starting gate and put numbers on them while Pork Chop chose four children to be the designated “rooters” for each of the pigs in the race. The child backing the winning pig gets a prize.

Pork Chop noted that the pigs are not poked or prodded to get them to race.

“We work on a reward system,” he said. “What they’re racing for is an iced oatmeal cookie. That’s also how I get Hambone to work every morning.”

These pigs evidently love iced oatmeal cookies. In each of the three races (featuring three different varieties of pigs), they barreled out of the gate like thoroughbred race horses, taking the turns as tight as possible, cutting off the other competitors if needed.

Scary stuff

Pumpkins, or at least jack-o’-lanterns made from them, go hand-in-hand with Halloween, of course, so Bengtson’s has animatronic skeletons throughout the farm engaged in a variety of activities, from trying to get a truck to start to playing folk music. The skeletons are a big hit with farm visitors.

“The truck scene is one of the things people mention all the time,” Dave told me.

There’s also the Haunted Barn, which features more animated characters that pop up unexpectedly as visitors wind through dark, narrow corridors. It’s pretty PG stuff, but I suppose some very small children might find it a bit frightening. For them, and for anyone who enjoys fun, there’s the Fun Barn, also filled with moving characters.

Ummm… what about the pumpkins?

Yes, there are pumpkins for sale at Bengtson’s Pumpkin Farm. They are all over the place, in fact, in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

Sunday, there were enormous pumpkins on hand, brought to Bengtson’s by people hoping to win a portion of $11,000 in prize money for the heaviest pumpkins.

“They come from all the surrounding states,” Dave said. “Last year, we had a 1,605-pound pumpkin that broke the Illinois record.”

The largest pumpkin on record weighed 1,810 pounds and was grown in Wisconsin last year, so Dave said he’s hoping some day a new record will be established at Bengtson’s. This year, the closest competitor came in around 1,400 pounds.

“They had a tough year this year because it was so hot,” Dave said.

Kids enjoy trying to lift, push, or roll the less massive pumpkins here and most parents can’t resist posing their little ones for photos in the midst of all those pumpkins.

I think Walt would approve.

Getting there: From Burr Ridge, take Illinois Highway 83 (The Kingery) south to Illinois Highway 171 (Archer Ave.). Highway 83 turns east at 111th St. Continue south on Highway 171 a short distance before turning left on Bell Road. Follow Bell Road south to West 151st Street. Turn right and follow 151st Street a short distance to the farm.