Washington Harvest Fest 2025 Reminds of Earlier Era

Washington Primary School recently hosted its annual Harvest Festival complete with pumpkins, field games and a hayride around the campus.

Harvest Festivals have a long tradition at Washington School. The PTA sponsored a pumpkin patch. “Farmer Danny returned this year to take the Washington Winners on a hayride around the grounds as the students sang ‘The Farmer in the Dell,’” Principal Michelle J. Richards said. “The festival ended for each class with a trip to the Washington pumpkin patch.”

Harvest Festivals harken back to an earlier time in Huntington UFSD’s history when the community consisted of many farms, both large and small. Much of the district consisted of open space prior to the end of World War II.

Washington is located on Whitson Road, off of Park Avenue, south of Pulaski Road. At the time it was built, farmland and wooded areas existed along the east and west sides of Park Avenue for many miles. So, the recent Harvest Fest echoed back to a bygone era in the community.

When Washington Elementary School was erected in 1954 the site was surrounded by farmland as well as a horse training facility, complete with stables and a racetrack. Such land use and activities were common around town for more than 200 years. Today the local farms have been replaced by housing units, but that didn’t stop students and staff from recently celebrating the harvest festival on the school grounds.

Dr. Richards thanked the district’s buildings and grounds department for providing the vehicle and manpower for the hayride around the grounds.

“All of the ‘Washington Winners’ had a wonderful day at Harvest Fest 2025,” Principal Michelle Richards said. “Washington PTA and parents volunteered and facilitated the stations as well as purchased the pumpkins.”