Leaves are falling, temperatures are dropping. Pumpkins and winter coats are appearing. There is no denying autumn is quickly approaching, so we may as well find a way to enjoy it. In Nebraska, there is nothing more fun to do than to go to Roca Berry Farm. Kids, babies, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens all fit in. It is a pumpkin patch by day and haunted house by night. It is not difficult to see why people find Roca so intriguing, but how do they run such a busy place? It must take a lot of hard work, decisiveness, and strategy.
It is unusual that Roca manages to run a pumpkin patch and a haunted house. They normally open around mid September and close Halloween night. Their hours vary from day to day, but they’re usually open by 9 am, and close by 10 pm. During the evening, the haunted house requires many more workers than the pumpkin patch. Jordan Schaefer, the owner of Roca Berry Farm’s son, says the pumpkin patch definitely gets more business compared to the haunted houses, but that they are proud to say they see people of all ages come to visit. Roca Berry is a family business, and was started by Jordan Schaefer’s father in 1980 when Jordan’s father was 24. It has since grown immensely, and last year, the approximate amount of visits they had estimately 80,000.
On an average, workers at the pumpkin patch tend to be full grown adults. On the other hand, the haunted house employees tend to vary from high schoolers to adults. These workers are trained in mid September, when Roca has just opened, and business is very slow. Schaefer says that is the purpose of opening so early, despite the lack of customers. There have been a few adjustments to Roca this year, and people have definitely taken a liking to them. Roca just began hosting weddings and other special events this year. So far, they have hosted about 60 weddings, and have had an attendance range from 10 to 2,500. On the down side, this year, Roca will not be open Halloween night since it is a Monday. In past years, it has been open, but then, Halloween just happened to be on a weekend. Despite the fact Roca Berry Farms will not be open on Halloween itself, there is no denying that it is an intriguing place to visit.