Punkin Patch Day Care, Paynesville, marked 20 years of service to the Paynesville area recently.
Bruce and Elaine Bork started the business in the basement of an old church (former Paynesville museum) and later purchased the first of two houses on Mill Street. A few years later, the second house was added to the daycare to accommodate the growing business. In 1988 Borks started Punkin Patch Plus Preschool for three to five-year-olds. For the first three years of the preschool, it was held at 414 1/2 Mill Street. In 1992, Activities Alive was built and the preschool was moved to the new location. The preschool has graduated over 350 kids in its nine years of existence.
Since its opening, Punkin Patch has provided daycare for over 1,200 families. The daycare and preschool combined provides care for 60 different kids in any given week and has prepared and served over a half million breakfasts, lunches and snacks.
Owners of Punkin Patch proudly state they have never closed their doors on a scheduled day for illness, weather, or for any other reason. They have provided over one million child daycare hours in their 20 years of business.