Swing, climb, maybe have pie, too. Check out Stanislaus business’ unique play park
What began with school tours of a working farm in Hughson has evolved into one of the area’s most interesting play parks.
The 34-foot structure at Resendiz Family Fruit Barn opened Easter weekend. It has creative rope walls and various levels for jumping, climbing and swinging.
Large, flower-themed towers line the perimeter of the play area to shade the benches. Pops of green, yellow, brown, blue and magenta are a nod to the trees and fruit grown on the farm.
“It’s impressive how there are so many kids over here, no phones and no tablets. They spend hours here doing what we did in the decades before, in the ’80s and ’90s,” said Javier Resendiz, director of operations and nephew of founder Francisco Resendiz.
Providing family fun remains at the core of the Resendiz operation. “The values of the family are so important right now, at this time of life,” Javier Resendiz said. “We built this (play park) to spend time with the kids, to have a spot to be with the family. This is why I think people understand our family fruit barn.”
Francisco opened Resendiz Fruit Barn in 1986. He came to this country from Mexico at the age of 13 to work in the fields. From a young age, he understood the value of farming, Francisco said, and while attending an agriculture conference in Santa Barbara, he was inspired by a sign that read “Agriculture feeds the world.”
In 1967, he moved to Hughson to start his own farming business.
Francisco started growing stone fruits including peaches and nectarines on the 33-acre farm on the corner of Santa Fe Avenue and Geer Road. As his operation expanded, he wanted to give something back to the community and share with others the gift of growing.
The Resendizes started inviting schools for tours and education on how fruit is grown and processed. “We were trying to connect the community with agriculture through school tours. In the first year, we had about 60 tours, and then in a few years we had up to 7,000 kids in a month,” Francisco, now in his 70s, said.
It was because of the school visits that Francisco realized the business needed a fun centerpiece, where kids could play after the visits. The family built a small park and added other attractions, like a petting zoo. Over the years, the popularity of the fruit barn grew, and he saw that he needed a larger park to accommodate the crowds.
In 2023, the Resendizes took down the old park and added a larger play structure with slides, connecting tubes and spinning elements centered around a colorful building-brick theme. They also expanded the area with sprawling greenery for picnics and a large pond with tiny fish.
As that park grew in popularity, the family began to imagine an ambitious, nature-themed play structure set against the large pine trees near the front of the area. Three years ago, they began to think seriously about the design.
“This is designed from scratch; nobody has something like that,” Javier said. The business had trouble finding a U.S. company to make its vision a reality. Most companies had only prefabricated play structures, so the Resendizes went international and worked with several companies overseas to design the structure.
“We wanted to make it so that people see it from the road. The process was quite an adventure,” Javier said. The Resendizes sourced materials internationally as well, and everything arrived in large shipping containers over seven months. They received all the materials and plans at the beginning of March and had the structure up in about 31 days.
The build was a family affair, first clearing the area, reinforcing with concrete, and adding seating spots around the park.
For Francisco, this was the realization of a dream to build a business that focused on family and community. “This is different from any other park. We’re trying to accomplish a family atmosphere, and it’s amazing. I look around and see kids playing, people getting coffee or just sitting and talking, and that’s very rewarding for me,” he said.
Resendiz Family Fruit Barn has a cafe for coffee, smoothies and other local produce and goods. Francisco’s wife, Erika, expanded the store into a bakery that serves fruit pies, pastries, cookies, and “World Famous Pie Crisp,” which is pie crust squares covered in cinnamon and sugar.
During the holidays, the business expands into the parking lot for a pumpkin patch during Halloween and activities with Santa for Christmas. Kids alternate from playing to visiting the goats, peacocks and ducks in the mini zoo, and visiting the turtles in their dedicated habitat.
The company has over 70 employees across the fruit barn and the farming business, and many of them are family members.
Both Francisco and Javier have plans to make the place even better. “Our vision is to add more activities. We have new goals, new challenges and an ambitious vision for the community and the playground. We want all the community to be here,” Javier said.
Resendiz Family Fruit Barn is at 4342 Geer Road in Hughson and is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The park is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.resendizfruitbarn.com
