Community · Mount Pleasant
Papa’s Pumpkin Patch wins Mt. Pleasant’s 2026 tourism award as the county counts $354 million in visitor spending
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Papa’s Pumpkin Patch, the family farm on South Summerton Road known for its hayrides, Pumpkin Train and corn mazes, is the 2026 winner of the Meet Mt. Pleasant Tourism Award.
The Mt. Pleasant Area Convention and Visitors Bureau announced the award at its 20th annual Meet Mt. Pleasant Tourism Banquet, held at the Courtyard by Marriott at Central Michigan University, The Morning Sun reported Friday. The bureau gives the award each year to a person or organization that has added to the community through tourism by improving visitor experiences, driving economic activity and raising quality of life for residents and visitors, according to the bureau’s website.
A professor’s farm. Bill Miller Sr., a retired CMU mathematics professor, opened the farm in 2000 as a family attraction with an educational bent, hosting school groups for autumn hayrides and talks on environmental math and good farming practices, The Morning Sun reported. His son, Bill Miller Jr., and daughter-in-law Laurie took over in 2006. That same year the state put a traffic light at Broomfield and Summerton roads, the paper reported. The farm expanded in 2013 with a larger building for its toy shop, turning the original building into a bakery for donuts, pies and cider.
Today the farm, at 3909 S. Summerton Road, offers hayrides, farm parties, the Pumpkin Train, a Michigan Maze and a Pumpkin Maze, and a country market with produce and baked goods. It also hosts community events; the Zonta Club of Mt. Pleasant held its 37th annual Applefest fundraiser there on Sept. 26, according to the bureau’s events listing.
Good company. Past winners listed by the bureau include Central Michigan University (2012), Mt. Pleasant Parks and Recreation (2015), the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe (2018), Gus Macker at CMU (2019), the McGuirk family (2020), the Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival (2022) and Jim Holton (2024).
Why it matters here. Tourism is Isabella County’s third-largest industry, behind education and health care, according to 2024 figures from the visitors bureau cited by The Morning Sun. The bureau puts tourism’s economic impact in the county at more than $354 million, generating more than $39 million in state and local tax revenue. In a county where education and health care lead the economy, that is visitor money spent at farms, hotels, restaurants and shops.
Other honors. At the banquet, the bureau also awarded 15 Destination Development Grants for projects meant to make Mount Pleasant and Isabella County a better place to visit, work and explore, and it recognized 25 hotel, restaurant, university and city workers who completed its online Meet Mt. Pleasant Expert course. The course teaches customer service, local events and attractions, and the history and culture of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. The certified experts work at CMU, Mid-Michigan College, Soaring Eagle Waterpark, the City of Mt. Pleasant, Morey Courts and several local hotels.
The bureau’s William Brehm Tourism Scholarship went to Emily Hurd, a CMU junior studying event and recreation management with a minor in entrepreneurship.
If you want to visit. The fall season at pumpkin farms runs short; check the farm’s own social media pages for this weekend’s hours and remaining activities before you drive out.
Sources:
The Morning Sun, “Papa’s Pumpkin Patch won Tourism Award at Meet Mt. Pleasant Tourism Banquet,” Oct. 23, 2026 (banquet, award, farm history, 2024 tourism figures, grants, experts, scholarship), https://www.themorningsun.com/2026/10/23/papas-pumpkin-patch-won-tourism-award-at-meet-mt-pleasant-tourism-banquet/
Mt. Pleasant Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, “Tourism Award” (award criteria, past recipients), https://meetmtp.com/tourism-award/
Mt. Pleasant Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, “Zonta Applefest” event listing (farm address, Sept. 26 Applefest), https://meetmtp.com/event/zontaapplefest/
Photo: Dwight Burdette, “Pumpkin Patch, Pillera Farm, Superior Township (Ypsilanti), Michigan,” Oct. 23, 2012, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pumpkin_Patch,_Pillera_Farm,_Superior_Township_(Ypsilanti),_Michigan_-_panoramio.jpg
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