My mission was to capture the colors of fall for our front page. My purposeful meandering led me to Sholan Farms, bought by The City of Leominster, Mass., to prevent the development of 150 single-family homes.

Volunteers like Emile Brosseau keep Sholan Farms going.

One of eleven children, Emile has lived in Leominster all of his 90 years. Retiring in 1975 after 46 years at DuPont, he worked growing strawberries and then blueberries before becoming an apple expert. He once picked 1,600 quarts of blueberries in 22 days. Munching a fresh Rome apple while driving to photograph pumpkins, I mused that I am often assigned to photograph notable people. But I savor chance encounters with generous spirits like Emile, whose story I find quite remarkable.

The Walsh family buys pumpkins at Pine Tree Farms in Concord, Mass. Across the highway, gleaming condos have cropped up on former farmland.