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Remlinger Farms

When newlyweds Gary and Bonnie Remlinger opened their fruit stand outside Bellevue in 1965, they could not foresee how it would prosper into a 200-acre major tourist center that annually hosts 200,000 visitors. Initially, Gary worked the 120-acre farm, adjacent to his father's farm, which he later took over, and Bonnie tended the fruit stand. When a major purchaser suddenly dropped a Remlinger strawberry order two weeks before harvest, the Remlingers decided to offer their 100 aces of strawberries as a "pick your own" to the public at wholesale prices. The sale was a huge success. As business grew, the Remlingers added a greenhouse to sell bedding plants, and a "petting" farm animal area to attract customers to the nursery. During the fall, the Remlingers sold pumpkins, and eventually added a hay maze and a haunted house to the animal area. Soon teachers were bringing school groups to learn about pumpkins and farming. More attractions and a restaurant were added to give people something to do and a place to eat when they visited the farm.

From that humble beginning the nursery and petting area grew into a "Country Fair" family entertainment park, which includes a farm theater, 4-H animal barnyard, pony rides, an authentic miniature steam train, a canoe ride, and a mine-twister roller coaster. Each October, Remlinger Farms hosts the northwest's largest Fall Harvest Festival, which attracts 6,000 people a day.

Documentation includes a text report and newspaper articles.

Originally submitted by: Jennifer Dunn, Representative (8th District).

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