The slightly cooler air and warm late summer sunshine can only mean one thing, autumn is upon us! 

With the change from summer to autumn, the seasonal festivals, events, and entertainment media favorites are plentiful. Whether you enjoy a visit to a pumpkin patch, apple picking, or watch a sentimental, or scary, movie, there is something for everyone. 

While the seasonal activities and events have been adjusted to accommodate Covid restrictions, there are still many fun events to celebrate the season. Even OLSH is hosting an inaugural Homecoming themed Fall Fest to welcome autumn by gathering students, staff, alumni, and their families on the sprawling campus. Everyone is then welcome to attend the afternoon football game to cheer on the OLSH Chargers. 

 So you’ve attended OLSH Fall Fest and cheered on on the football team to victory, relax at home that evening with a seasonal media favorite. Always sure to please, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown program features the Peanuts group of friends. The friends navigate the highs and lows of trick or treating and a Halloween party as one of their friends holds on to an seemingly unbelievable anticipation of a visit by The Great Pumpkin figure. Spoiler alert, just go trick or treating Linus and you’re certain to get candy. Another seasonal media favorite is the movie The Lost Boys which features scarier themes of vampires and boys behaving badly. Long before Kiefer Sutherland took on the role of Jack Bauer on 24, he was a big, bad vampire ring leader. Maybe not such a different role after all!

If you are looking to combine an autumnal activity with some exhilarating excitement, the Pittsburgh Monster Pumpkin Festival https://monsterpumpkins.com/ may be a perfect hybrid. Boasting “Mother nature’s most vivacious, outrageous, humongous fruits i one stupendous sea of orange” on their website, this may be a must see activity. The location is the Strip District between 28th and 29th street on the weekend of October 16 and 17. 

Finally, the season wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the pumpkin patch to bring home some fall treasures. Local farm Janoski’s in Clinton celebrates with Pumpkinland on weekends through October. A separate monetary charge may apply to the corn maze and pumpkin purchases yet these are the memories on which lifetime traditions are built.