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Mazes amaze Valley
Many puzzle their way through cornstalk paths
NEW SPRINGFIELD
There’s still time left to end up lost and confused this weekend.
Corn mazes are a popular attraction in the Mahoning Valley. The largest in the area is Maze Craze, 14070 Woodworth Road.
Maze Craze’s last day is Sunday.
“It’s over before you know it,” Cindy Bacon, the owner, said.
Although corn mazes are a fun enterprise, maintaining one is a lot of work.
“We live and breathe this maze,” she said.
Now in its sixth year, Cindy and her husband, Mike, relocated the 20-acre maze from its former location in Columbiana, which was 25 acres total. The new location is 80 acres.
Maze work takes up nine months of the year, which includes preparation, design and actually running it for about a month. In the springtime, Mike said he plants the corn for the maze.
“I build it, she runs it,” he said.
The maze is then professionally designed and cut by Shawn Stolworthy of MazePlay in Firth, Idaho. The cost depends on the design and
acreage. The more challenging the maze, the more it costs, Cindy said.
Challenging is what the Bacons strive to accomplish. The design is different each year with a different theme. For this year, the maze is Western-themed featuring a face of John Wayne.
The maze actually is made up of four smaller ones and on average can take 90 minutes to three hours to complete.
One of the mazes has an interactive game for children while the other three mazes feature 18 checkpoints to hit. The dynamics of the maze change especially at night, which requires customers to bring a flashlight.
“It definitely brings out the competitiveness of people,” Cindy said.
Planting the corn ranges from $400 to $520 per acre. Cindy said they make a 15 to 25 percent profit of what they put into it, despite losing 25 percent of the corn. They also make a profit after harvesting the corn depending on the commodities each year.
One huge factor and challenge is the weather.
“It’s a gamble every single year,” Cindy said.