Pick a pack of pumpkins at fair

Kids of all ages chose their favorite out of more than 1,000 pumpkins provided for at least a decade by Ingardia Bros. — and that was only a slice of the fun that day at the nature center in Newport Beach.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., scores of hungry-eyed children, trekked through the Environmental Nature Center, just behind Newport Harbor High School, with their parents at the 27th annual “Street” Fair and Pumpkin Patch, hoarding their favorite gourds, constructing fall crafts, playing carnival games and hiking through the nature walk on a scavenger hunt.

Work began in the early-morning hours for the hundreds of volunteers organizing booths peddling food, native plants sales, a silent auction, face painting and more. Even Newport Beach firefighters set up shop, cooking up chili dogs on the department’s barbecue.

Pumpkins were transported from the back of the property to the site of the patch in the parking lot by a train of children, said Bo Glover, president of the nature center.

This year’s Fall Faire saw thousands of visitors and raised tens of thousands of dollars needed to keep the center running each year.

— Kelly Strodl