End of an era for Tweite’s Farm

All good things must come to an end, and for Tweite’s Family Farm that time has come, after serving as a local family attraction for the past 31 years.
Tom Tweite, owner of Tweite’s Family Farm, hopes the farm has helped create lasting family memories.
“We try to create magical moments,” he said. “Seeing the families having a great time and the great compliments that we’ve received for the services that we provide families. It’s very touching.”
They’ve been creating those moments for the past three decades, but the farm’s history is much richer.
He said the farm has been in the Tweite family for 109 years, and he’s the fifth generation to live here.
“We’ve done this for 31 years, and it’s been one piece of the puzzle of what the farm has been over the past 109 years,” he said.
With so much family history on the farm, Tweite said that one of his favorite parts of working on the farm is making new family memories.
“Everyday I get to remember my grandpas, my dad, my kids, and now my grandkids, and so everyday the neat thing about growing up where everybody was and still are is that you’re creating new thoughts and memories that are very happy,” he said.
Happy memories are one of the many reasons why families continue to flock to Tweite’s Family Farm.
In addition, he said customers visit the farm for a variety of other reasons. “Some may come here to enjoy the park, some may come to just buy a pumpkin, and we have many customers who just come here to buy our specialty foods,” he said.
No matter what each family’s main reason for visiting the farm is, they’re sure to find much more than they could ever imagine.
Tweite said they continually add to the farm so even if visitors came last year, they’ll find something new this year.
“You look at everything and think ‘how could someone enjoy this’, make it safe, and friendly as you can for all to enjoy,” he said.
Beyond serving as a family outing, the farm also tries to help families grow through games, activities, and stories such as Spookley, the anti-bullying pumpkin.
“We have strong beliefs in certain morals and if we can somehow help any family make their family stronger we try to. Bullying is a huge thing, ‘I like it when’ and other things that are around the farm can be very inspiring to a family, to dads, to moms, to grandparents, and if the kids are old enough to read to them,” he said.
While he hopes the games and activities are educational and fun, he noted that the families have to bring the joy.
“We provide the tools. We can’t make you have fun, but we can give you everything to have fun,” he said. “Last Sunday, it rained at the end of the day, but everybody was just having a great time, in fact the staff all said that, ‘What a bunch of happy people today, they were using your tools.’”
After making people happy for so many years, Tweite said he and his wife are ready for a lifestyle change.
He explained that they aren’t being forced to make this decision because someone is sick or someone died.
“We wanted to be able to go out and plan it out and make this change on our own for us at this point in time in our lives. The right thing for Tom and Colleen to do now is to move on with another part of their life,” he said.
Tweite said he and Colleen are going to enjoy spending more time with their family.
“We’re going to continue to live here and enjoy, even to a fuller degree we hope, our grandkids and daughters that live here and my parents and the rest of my family,” he said.
Tweite’s Family Farm is open each weekend day from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It will also be open the Thursday and Friday of MEA weekend. The farm’s last day will be Sunday, Oct. 20.