School children finish their picnic lunch as they prepare to visit Bo's Amazing Maze Adventures.
The corn maze can be seen in the background. Other activities for the students included pumpkin painting, hay mazes, hay rides, and story telling.

Corn mazes have become very popular entertainment attractions for many people across the United States. For the first time this year, we have two corn mazes in Robeson County. I had the opportunity earlier this week to see one of them in operation.

For those of you who are not familiar with corn mazes, they are simply corn fields planted very thickly in order to create a very dense stand of corn. Walkways are cut into the corn field in patterns to create a maze, winding paths that sometimes lead to dead ends but always with one path winding through the field to the exit. When the corn is grown, it is impossible to see through the stalks in order to determine how to find the right path. The objective is to stroll through the pathways to find your way out.

The corn maze that I visited was Bo's Amazing Maze Adventures. This corn maze was established this year by Bo Stone and his family on the family farm just west of Rowland. The site is adjacent to Bo's Berry Patch, which provides fresh strawberries for visitors during strawberry season.

The reason I visited the corn maze this week was that my wife's third grade class from Tanglewood School had planned a field trip to the maze. I wanted to see how Bo and his family handled groups of school children. The accompanying picture shows eager students as they prepare to visit the maze and participate in the planned activities.

Although planting and preparing the maze was Bo's responsibility. His wife Missy and younger sister, Laura Lynn Bailey, planned the activities that would be provided for the students, contacted school teachers to publicize the maze, and handled all the decorations.

However, when the time came for students to visit the maze, it was definitely a family affair. This entire family is very proud of their farm and the fact that they are responsible for producing some of the foods that consumers enjoy every day.

Bo gave instructions to the students and divided them into manageable groups, so they could rotate to different activities. On the day I visited, there were third grade classes from two different schools or about 250 students all together. The students from one school had visited in the morning and were finishing their picnic lunch, while the students from the other school were enjoying their picnic lunch before participating in the activities.

Bo is very concerned that many of our young people do not realize where or how their food is grown. Many of them have had no experiences on a farm, so without some education, they will never develop an appreciation for farmers and for the complex system of food production.

Activities at the corn maze included a hay ride that was actually an educational experience for the students. As they traveled through the farm, either Bo or his father Tommy described in third grader terms how various crops are grown and how they are used to produce the foods we enjoy. Bo and Tommy asked the students questions to cause them to think and gave some very practical examples that were easy for them to understand.

When the hay ride was over, the students were allowed to choose a pumpkin which they then decorated with washable paints. Bo's mother Bonnie and his wife Missy assisted with this task. The students were allowed to carry their pumpkins home with them.

After finishing the pumpkin painting, Laura Lynn directed the students to the corn maze and divided them into smaller groups. The small groups were then instructed to enter the maze and see how long it would take to find their way out.

The maze itself was an educational experience for the students. When they came to an intersection of paths, there was a question posted on a sign. The right answer to the question led students in the right direction, while a wrong answer led them toward dead end paths. All questions related to agricultural topics, so the students were encouraged to think further about farm facts and figures.

When the students emerged from the corn maze, they were allowed to play in a hay maze which was simply hundreds of bales of hay laid out on the ground in the form of a maze. Again, the students had to determine the correct path to lead to the exit.

The final activity for the students was story time. Missy gathered the students around and read them stories related to farms and farm activities. As she read, she asked questions and gave the students examples of what the Stone family does on their farm.

It was a rewarding day for me, and by the excitement shown by the students, it was evident that it was a rewarding day for them. They experienced a special occasion on a farm, and they had fun doing it.

As I mentioned, there is another corn maze in the county as well. Phil Sessoms and his youth who have historically provided the haunted house on Pine Street in Lumberton each year have constructed a haunted corn maze at the Southeastern Regional Farmers Market (Highway 74 East). This maze will operate through the Halloween season and, so far, has be a fantastic hit with those who have attended.

I encourage you to make an effort to visit one of the corn mazes within the next week or so. Even if you don't want to go through the corn maze but simply want to see what is being done, you will enjoy what you see.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 11/2/05