When the Interstate 70 overpass in Jonesburg reopened on the afternoon of July 17, many residents at the town had reason to celebrate.

Even the ones at Rooster’s Farm Pumpkin Patch.

So the Jonesburg farm decided to hold a market of baked goods, produce, lemonade, kettle corn and flowers on First Street in Jonesburg to celebrate the completion of the construction of the overpass.

The market was held on July 17-18. It was held from 4 p.m.-8 p.m. on July 17 and from 10:30 a.m. until the afternoon the following day.

“When the overpass opened, we decided it was a good time to celebrate,” Rooster’s Farm owner Patty Ludy said. “Everybody has been waiting for the new overpass to come open. So we thought, ‘Everybody was so excited, so we thought it would be a good time to go sell some produce, baked goods and cattle corn.”

Rooster’s Farm is located at 30903 Honey Locust Road in Jonesburg, just two miles east of the Montgomery County border. It has been open for business for four years. It is named after Ludy’s son Brody’s nickname, Rooster.

The farm has plenty of activities for children of all ages, such as a corn maze, a 20-foot double pipe slide, duck races, bounce house, a petting zoo and cornhole. Every fall, it holds a pumpkin patch as it has six acres of pumpkins.
Rooster’s Farm is currently open for business to sell produce and flowers. It is scheduled to have its opening day on Sept. 19.

The market was located next to a bus lot behind Fastlane gas station. Ludy said her farm sometimes holds its business there.

“We try to come every other week,” she said. “We like to come weekly, but usually it happens about every other week whenever the weather is nice as often as we can.”

Ludy said even though the overpass was closed, her farm still attracted customers.

“It didn’t really seem like it affected anybody coming to the farm because a lot of people would get off at the Pendleton exit, but we normally come up here (on First Street) quite a bit,” she said. “We didn’t come up here as often when the overpass was closed because we didn’t think it wouldn’t make much business, So we waited and (July 17) was a good day to come back.”

The overpass was closed for five months as part of a project that was built by MoDOT. It included a wider bridge that featured 12-foot driving lanes and 10-foot shoulders.

Ludy said the reopening of the overpass was essential for Jonesburg residents as they don’t have to drive through detours to get into town.

“We think it’s a big deal because you don’t have to go all the way around,” Ludy said. “You don’t have to go to the Y spur and you don’t have to go to Flying J.”

Ludy said the first day of the market was successful as everything was sold out except for a few bags of popcorn, prompting the farm to hold the market for another day.

“It went really well, so we thought we would come back and try again,” Ludy said.