Create an Ad: Whitney’s Farm
ADAMS, Mass. — The holiday season is here, and Whitney's Farm, located on Route 8 in Cheshire, has merchandise and food that can put you in the festive spirit.
Second-grade students at St. Stanislaus Kostka School showcased the fun and festive environment of the garden center and market as part of our Junior Marketers Create an Ad series.
The family-owned business has been in operation for more than 80 years, starting as a dairy farm in 1930. Peter Whitney continued to run it as a dairy farm but also began growing sweet corn and other produce, which he sold out of an old truck on the side of the highway.
"The mission of Whitney's farm is to offer a diverse mix of quality agricultural products, many of which we produce at Whitney's farm or get from other farms in the area," said third-generation owner Eric Whitney.
After attending Stockbridge School of Agriculture, Whitney and his wife decided to move away from dairy farming and diversify into a farm market, and running a greenhouse and landscaping business.
This month, students showcased the holiday season at Whitney's Farm, which offers handmade decorations such as wreaths and kissing balls, and homemade goods, including various pies and fudge. And, of course, the market sells Christmas trees.
It was a fun experience for the children to draw the trees and a lot of them also loved drawing the pies, second-grade teacher Ashley Michael said.
"They just had a really great time focusing on all the different Christmas aspects that Whitney's has. They love Whitney's because of what they do there in the fall and I think a lot of them don't spend as much time there in the winter, but they're really excited about what is there and the opportunities that present themselves in the winter," she said.
"I think they did a great job of adding snow and lights to their Christmas trees, and even some of the pies that they made on a Thanksgiving table. It just really made it warm and welcoming and ready for the season."
This time of year is very busy as staff work to prepare the decorations, trees, wreaths, and other holiday décor, Whitney said.
As soon as customers walk into the market and garden center, they are greeted with the rich smell of balsam that will surely help getting into the holiday mood.
The destination provides visitors with outdoor experiences with a playground, farm animals and pumpkin picking during the warmer months; in the winter, the market is full of colorful light decorations and with trees available to purchase.
In their drawings, many students incorporated snow, lights, and holiday décor — capturing the farm's festive, welcoming spirit during the Christmas season.
Every year, Whitney's gets between 2,000 to 3,000 balsam and Fraser firs. Some get donated to local fundraisers and the rest are sold to families seeking their perfect Christmas tree.
The students' drawings were very creative and colorful," said Whitney, and the amount of color incorporated in the drawing is how they chose the winners.
"They drew pictures of the main things that we offer at Whitney's Farm. So, I think they hit the nail on the head," he said.
The three winners selected were Lila Clough for first place, Leon Malloy for second, and Maya LaBombard for third.
Whitney gave several families a tour, offering them an inside look at how the sweet treats and homemade decorations are made. The students eyes lit up as they watched him trim the kissing balls and frolicked through the rows of trees that towered over them.
Lila was absent the day of the school visit, however, her colorful drawing showcases a tree, presents, and staff selling goods at the market.
Leon drew the farm, four Christmas trees, and wrote "Whitney's farm, there are trees and fudge"
All the students have visited Whitney's and although Leon has not gone there to get trees previously, he happily reflected on his experience feeding the animals during the warmer months.
People should get their trees and decorations at Whitney's because it "is really fun and a cool place to be," Leon said.
Garden center owner Eric Whitney with ad winners Leon Malloy and Maya LaBombard.
Maya demonstrated the winter wonderland at Whitney's. She drew the farm on a snowy day and incorporated a wreath, a coconut cream pie, and a Christmas tree.
She also wrote "Come get your trees at Whitney's. Come get your coconut cream pie at Whitney's and come get your wreaths at Whitney's."
"I love coconut cream pie, and I buy wreaths from Whitney's, and sometimes I buy trees from Whitney's," Maya said.
"It's really fun going there. It's fun because of the playgrounds. And you can buy all sorts of pies, and you can buy trees."
This project was a great opportunity to talk about the writing process, Michael said.
"We had a lot of brainstorming to do at the very beginning, because Whitney's offers so many different things at this time of year, and so the children knew that they wouldn't be able to fit everything into their picture, so they really had to pare down what they were going to focus on in their ad," she said.
The classroom is a little community; however, Michael said she wants her students to realize that there is this larger community out there that they really play a part in.
Tags: farm stand, garden center, junior marketers, st stans,
