Homegrown fun | Harvest Hill Farms expands its 'agritainment' venue
Photo/Mindy Moerter
Peter Bolduc revamped 240 acres in Mechanic Falls into Pumpkinland
By the end of the season, as many as 50,000 people will have turned off of Route 26 in Mechanic Falls to visit Harvest Hill Farms, lured by the giant hay-filled letters that spell out PUMPKINLAND. In its third season, the fall-themed kids' attraction includes inflatable houses, pony rides and a giant slingshot for pumpkins. The sprawling 240-acre property also includes a corn maze, a haunted hayride and a farmers' market and pizza shop that operates year-round.
Peter Bolduc bought the property three years ago and moved his farmers' market from nearby Route 11 in Poland. In the past two years, business has doubled, boosted this year by the addition of a tent to host musical performances and a new weekday kids offering called Field of Dreams. Bolduc also owns Maine Apple Co., a 350-acre orchard in Monmouth, and Re-Harvest, a recycling business in Portland that handles everything from paper and plastic to brewing waste from Shipyard Brewing Co. Together, the three companies bring in about $8 million-$10 million in annual revenues.
With three businesses and a fourth percolating, Bolduc is never far from his cell phone. "I go through two phones a year," he says. "I wear 'em right out."
The following is a condensed and edited transcript of his conversation with Mainebiz.
Mainebiz: Why did you decide to buy this property and expand your business?
Bolduc: I recognized a trend that is happening across the country known today as "agritainment." People were returning to their roots; you know, the old saying is, everything good in life is at the end of a dirt road. So we had a lot of folks who were wanting to spend not big dollars by going to the Disneyworlds, but spending smaller dollars and keeping it local.
What's been the main draw this year?
The main draw right now continues to be Pumpkinland, just because of the age and the exposure of the brand … The haunted night ride is probably our second-largest venue and that's a big market, for teenagers and young adults and adults alike. Halloween, itself, 10 years ago was a $3 billion industry, and I think last year the number I heard was it had ballooned to a $14 billion industry, so there's a lot of growth. I'm not a guy who likes to be spooked and scared, but we're providing the spooks and scares for people who do ... As Pumpkinland stands, it's still very much a value-based entertainment venue for people during some very hard times.
Has anyone ever gotten lost in the corn maze, like the couple in Massachusetts who called 911?
We've haven't had any Massachusetts scenarios. We've had mostly just good old-fashioned Mainers going through our maze … We have rangers out in the corn maze to help people if they hit trouble.
You received an award last year from the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce?
Being recognized by your business peers is a wonderful thing, but what meant as much to me is the other day one of my employees who's been with me for a number of years said, "You should be proud of what you've been able to create here, because I remember what it looked like only a few short years ago." So when you take a piece of property like this that had been run down and … you bring it back to life, and you see the traffic and the energy and the memories that are being created here, that's pretty cool. So I think if you chase money, you can make money your god, but if you chase a dream, that has a lot longer life, and it's lot more rewarding.
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