AURORA - Old-fashioned rules for a traveler often meant avoiding restaurants with a sign that read “Eats” and to stay away from any meal prepared by someone named Cookie.

And while a visit to the Pumpkin Hill Bistro, in Aurora, takes a bit of a drive for many Cayuga County residents, chef and general manager Sue Wheeler quickly dispels that second rural legend for first-time visitors.

Known to her many friends and colleagues as ‘Cookie,' Wheeler was her usual smiling and active self Sunday as Pumpkin Hill hosted its first-ever Pumpkin Fest.

Assistant manager Todd Bundy was pleased with the turnout at mid-afternoon.

“It's been terrific so far. More than we expected. We were hoping for a great day, but this has exceeded our expectations,” Bundy said.

Admission was only $2 for a carload, and it included horse-drawn hayrides, lots of great food, a craft and produce sale, and more.

Silly Willy, a clown from the Boston area, managed to get to Aurora despite his undersized car and oversized footwear. He was fun. Also providing entertainment were three bands set up on the porch, playing everything from Patsy Cline to the Grateful Dead to classics from the American songbook.

The owners and staff are planning on making Pumpkin Fest an annual event. The restaurant is open April through October from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays thru Thursdays, an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays. They're open for private parties on Sundays, and are closed on Monday.

Located about three miles south of the village on Route 90, Pumpkin Hill got its name from a often-told story that a local farmer once lost a load of pumpkins when his wagon broke a wheel as it went down the hill. His neighbors helped themselves to his misfortune. The restaurant itself is the former circa-1820 Sellen House that was dismantled and then moved from the nearby town of Genoa in 2001.

Owners Terry Dewis and Andy Casa hail from the Miami area, and both Bundy and Wheeler have been at Pumpkin Hill since it opened three years ago.

“It's her show. She's the glue that holds everything together,” Bundy said of Cookie, adding “we're fortunate to have terrific owners that really care. They want the community, and the business, to prosper. It's not just about the bottom line with them.”

Wheeler is one of the best and well-known, chefs in the eastern Finger Lakes area.

“It's been amazing, a record-breaking year,” she said.

The secret to success in the restaurant business, Wheeler believes, is “No. 1, listening to your customers. Because when they ask us to run certain foods, we do so. And when we ask how your meal was, we really care. And if it's not right, we fix it.

“And, of course, the setting is absolutely amazing. It's like inviting people into your own home.”

Wheeler, the mother of three, has worked for restaurateur Bill Eberhardt's Dining Associates (which includes the Sherwood Inn), and was the executive chef at MacKenzie-Childs for 2.5 years before moving a few miles up the road.

Today, Wheeler is often joined in the open kitchen at Pumpkin Hill by her only daughter, Carissa, who is a senior at Southern Cayuga High School. All of her children - including 9-year old Chance, and Preston, a freshman at the University of Buffalo - have spent plenty of time in the kitchen.

“They've all grown up in the restaurant business. They all have an appreciation, know how to cook,” Wheeler said. “Carissa is so much like me - she's a perfectionist, she demands quality. But it's so easy working with her because she takes direction so well.”

Restaurant work can often be a nomadic life, moving from one kitchen to another. But Wheeler has found a home.

“I love this place. I am incredibly fortunate. It's my dream come true, finally, in all the years that I've worked. I pinch myself every day,” she said.