Corn maze operators adapt to pandemic
Eight years ago, Kohl’s Stony Hill Tree Farm drastically expanded its Christmas Shoppe just east of Milton, and needed a unique way to draw more people in to check out the new facilities.
“We went from 5,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet, and decided that a corn maze was an ideal way to showcase the upgrade before the Christmas season,” said Stan Kohl. “It has been a huge success, and has helped us get more people into the Christmas Shoppe.”
Stan Kohl, Kohl’s Stony Hill Tree Farm
Although COVID-19 may change that this year.
“We are looking to add a window where people can get wristbands to enjoy the corn maze without requiring people to go into the Shoppe like we have in the past,” he said. “It’s kind of like shooting ourselves in the foot since the main reason to do the corn maze is to get more people into our Christmas Shoppe, but we want to be mindful of the times and give people a safe activity they can enjoy with their families during the fall.”
Kohl still plans to use the maze for promotional purposes, however.
“This year’s design features a girl walking a donkey with a goat and pig following behind,” he said. “My daughter is looking to add a petting zoo this year, and we felt this design helped promote that new addition.”
Ards Farm Market, located outside of Lewisburg, is planning its 19th annual corn maze, and is drawing on the pandemic response for inspiration for this year’s theme.
“We wanted to honor our first-line fighters and were tossing around ideas while looking at images of people during the pandemic when we found a modernized version of Rosie the Riveter,” said Kyle Ard. “We want to focus on the moments of human kindness over the past couple months, and people will have prompts and questions to answer as they go through the maze.”
Options for creating a corn maze can be as varied as the themes themselves.
“We plant our corn field in the beginning of June, and lay out the design as soon as the corn pops up out of the ground. When we go back through and kill the corn plants that fall in the pathways,” said Ard. “Many people think you just mow the paths after the corn is full-grown, but then you have to deal with the stubble.”
Kohls, meanwhile, has been through quite a bit of evolution in terms of how it makes a maze.
“When we started, we had a local farmer plant the corn like everyone else plants it, and we hired a company out of Idaho that spends the whole summer going across the country making the mazes. They’d actually use a rototiller behind a tractor and follow prompts from a GPS screen on where to cut the design into the field,” he said. “However, in the past three years, their technology has advanced enough that they now plant the corn for us, following GPS coordinates, putting the seed where it needs to go but shutting off where paths fall, and it all just grows up to be a corn maze.”
Providing such entertainment in a season impacted by a global pandemic will require some adjustments.
Ards plans to just have the corn maze open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays “to give us most of the week to make sure that all is on track and sanitized where possible,” said Ard. “People have been stuck in houses for quite some time, and this provides an important way for a family to get outdoors for a couple of hours while still being spread out from others.”
Kohl agreed.
“People are desperate for things to do, and we won’t be packing you into aisles like you would be at a fair,” he said. “We are hoping it all works out. We have definitely been leery on whether or not to proceed – we don’t want to spend all this time setting up and have someone shut it all down at the last moment.”
Both Kohls and Ards have historically offered hayrides among the activities surrounding the corn maze – but this year, they each will be scrapping the hayride component.
“This year, we just don’t think we can put people who don’t know each other close together on a hayride to the pumpkin patch, so we moved our pumpkins closer to the maze and expanded that area,” she said.
Ard suggested allocating about an hour to 90 minutes to complete the maze.
“My biggest tip is to just relax and go with it. There are maps throughout the maze, and you can look at them and figure out where you are and how to get out,” she said. “Some people get concerned that they are lost, but you should remember you are within the space of just a couple of acres, and we will have people up on bridges who can assist you.”
She also recommends wearing comfortable shoes.
“It always amazes me how many people show up wearing shoes you’d never want to walk through a field in,” she said. “Also, if you have any sort of reaction from touching hay or corn stalks, you may want to wear longer pants instead of shorts.
“It is also important to remember that this is a completely outdoor activity, and if it rains, there isn’t much we can do about that. Check the weather before coming. We typically will close if it is raining out.”
For more information about Ard’s corn maze, including up-to-date requirements and suggestions, visit www.ardsmarket.com. For more about Kohls Stony Hill Tree Farm and its eight-acre corn maze, visit www.kohlsstonyhill.com.
