It took a lot of work and trial and error, but folks who want to get lost in the “cornfusion” of a corn maze this fall can do so right here in Montgomery County, thanks to David and Michele Haywood, who live with his parents, G.T. and Jo, on the family farm on Chip Road.
Michele, who works at Montgomery Community College, has long been interested in agri-tourism and attended a daylong seminar at Morrow Mountain in March. “I ended up at a table with two guys from Monroe who have a big corn maze,” she explained. “They said it was really easy, no problem, and I asked them questions about it all day. When I asked if they made more money on the maze or the corn, they said, hands down, the maze.”
David, an officer at Southern Correctional Institution, was interested in the money side of things, but also liked the idea of doing something for youngsters and groups who’d like to visit the farm.
So, in addition to the large acreage of corn they plant yearly, the Haywoods picked out two acres just up the road from the homeplace. Michele went on the Internet to research mazes, and knowing they had a relatively small plot, thought about English garden mazes. She found what she was looking for in the plans for the maze at England’s Hampton Palace.
She worked for ages, getting the plan drawn out and finally translating it to several sheets of graph paper taped together. “In the meantime, the corn was growing,” she said. “You’re supposed to keep the maze mowed down right from the start, but by the time I figured out how to translate the pattern from paper to the field, the corn was nine feet tall. That was one question I forgot to ask those guys from Monroe.”
“Chicken litter works great. This is the best corn I’ve ever made and we were cutting it down,” David recalled with a laugh.
On a weekend with temperatures well into the 90s, they headed out into the densely planted field to cut the maze using a machete and tape measure. “I’d yell at David and he’d hold his straw hat up on top of the machete above his head and I could barely see it,” she recalled. Part way through, they gave up on the tape measure, which resulted in too many square corners, and relied on Michele’s memory. “I’d had it in my head for so long, I’d just tell David to go out until I told him to stop, and then turn left or right,” she recalled.
Complete now, the maze has plenty of narrow pathways, blind alleys and turn backs before maze walkers get to the goal, the square near the center where they’ll pick up proof of their success and get a small prize when they make their way back out.
It won’t be easy, however. David got lost recently on one of his regular trips to keep the pathway mowed down.
During the month and a half they plan to have the maze open, the Haywoods will also have pumpkins, soft drinks and snacks for sale. For four days near Halloween, they’ll add some spooks and frights to make it a haunted maze.
“It’s all a big family affair,” she said. “I hope G.T. will come out and talk to folks about the land that’s been in the Haywood family for generations; he’s got so many stories. We’re trying to make it a kind of cultural experience.”
The corn maze at Lucky Branch Farm will be open weekends from Sept. 12 to Oct. 31, Fridays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Cost is $3. The haunted maze will be open at yet to be determined hours Oct. 24-26 and Oct. 31 for $4 admission. Group rates are available and they’ll open the maze by appointment during the week.
For more information or directions to the maze at 372 Chip Road, off Pekin Road about five miles south of Troy, call 910-576-4981 or 910-220-5578.
