WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — Pumpkin season is here, and Hawks Pumpkin Patch is a popular spot to visit.

For two decades, Bryan Hawks has been running the popular spot along Clemmonsville Road but doesn’t consider it a business.

“Seeing the kids’ faces and hearing them laugh, hearing the Radio Flyer wheels, that’s the best part,” said Hawks, who started the pumpkin patch more than 20 years ago by accident. “I used to wholesale pumpkins, and I had a customer who stuck me with a tractor-trailer load, and my brother suggested I bring them here.”

At first, people thought it was a display and wouldn’t stop, so he started decorating.

“I got a lot of friends in the community,” he said. “They were strangers when I got here, and their kindness is what built this place.”

A recent survey of more than 3,000 North Carolina families by Family Destination Guides found the Hawks family’s patch is the top favorite in the state. It’s now become a tradition for families and their kids.

“To see these kids grow up over the 22 years, that means the world to me,” he said.