Copyright Notice: All images and text on this page and throughout this website are the copyright property of their creator(s) and may not be copied, reproduced, published or re-transmitted under any circumstances without the written permission of the copyright holder. ©2003, Kenneth Wajda, Cañon City, CO. All Rights Reserved.

The Amazing Barn Raising Maze

by Kenneth Wajda

"Are y'all ready to get lost?" the Maze Caller bellows at the top of his lungs.

After a resounding, "Yes!" the Maze Caller leads the corral-full of people to the entrance of the corn maze for their last few introductory words. He quickly loses the kids as he explains the use of the map and the gathering of the puzzle pieces. They're busy staring, wide-eyed, at the field behind him--a field of corn at least twice as tall as they are.

The Amazing Barn Raising Maze at Belle Mountain, in Hopewell Township (Mercer County), is a three-acre field of corn cut into a maze the shape of the Henry Phillips Barn. The actual Henry Phillips Barn, which dates from 1835, sits a mile up the road at Howell Living History Farm.

Acquired by Mercer County in 1974, Howell Farm is truly a "living history" museum depicting life at the turn of the 20^th century. It offers farm programs year-round.

Restoration on the barn is due and the maze is its main fundraiser--and great family fun.

GERMINATING SEED MONEY

Pete Watson, Howell Farm Administrator, was introduced to the concept by Don Frantz of the American Maze Company located in Harrisburg, PA. Frantz and his staff have been building three-dimensional labyrinths since 1993, starting with a dinosaur maze in Lebanon Valley, PA. Since then, they've built mazes in the shape of a ship, a locomotive, Noah's ark, an Amish horse and buggy and--to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the automobile--a quadricycle for Ford Motor Company in Detroit. Several of these mazes have been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest maze in existence.

"I had visited the farm five years earlier and kept a souvenir mason jar of Indian corn on my dresser as a token of my trip," said Frantz. "After building the various mazes and becoming more interested in attracting people to the farm experience, I realized that the Howell Farm would be the perfect location for a maze."

Watson puts the project in perspective, explaining, "We need to restore this barn and we'd probably never get the money to do it unless we go outside to the private sector. This was a way to get some seed money to start the project."

He discussed the idea with the Friends of Howell Living History Farm, the staff and the Mercer County Park Commission, the farm's operator. They loved it.

"They all said, "Yeah, we gotta do it, we're going to get this project off the ground," Watson said.

It was a go, but Frantz wasn't sure it was possible for his company to take on the maze this year, what with the other maze projects he had under construction.

"Maybe next year would be better," Frantz offered.

Watson told him they couldn't wait; that they'd just have to figure out how to do a maze and do it themselves. Frantz promised to offer phone advice along the way.

After getting a late start due to a wet spring, the staff plowed the field, planted the corn and waited. And waited. And waited.

The corn crop failed.

It was now almost the end of June and they had no corn. They quickly re-plowed the field and replanted. This time, fortunately, it was a successful crop.

Having little idea how to proceed, Watson phoned Frantz for some tips on cutting the maze. With his company's other mazes already under way, and seeing that Watson and his crew were resolved to build a maze, Frantz dedicated three of his staff--maze manager Liz Stanton, maze designer Ian Marshall and music director Rich Schneider--to the Howell Living History Farm project for the rest of the summer.

PUTTING THE BARN INTO THE CORN

Marshall, a maze fanatic since age three, was the designer. Working with Stanton, he started with photos of the actual barn and began creating the maze on paper.

"I drew a simple picture of the barn and shaped it so that it was as similar to the real barn as possible, with the cupola and the horse--which is a real horse there, named Blaze," Marshall explained. "I set that onto a grid that matches this cornfield exactly. Every horizontal line of the grid matches with a row of corn."

The key elements of the maze became the barn with cupola, the wheat stack, a pitchfork, the sky, the grass and Blaze. Each of these elements was assigned a different color, and the section depicting it in the maze has ribbons corresponding to that color, so that even when you're inside the maze, you have an idea of what part of the maze you're crossing through.

All you need to do to make your way through the maze is gather map pieces along the way and reach Blaze, who will lead you out of the barn.

The game board is set up as a map consisting of ten missing pieces. As you walk through the maze, you discover mailboxes, each assigned a number. Inside the mailbox is a pad of map pieces and tape. You tape one of the pieces in place and continue on your way. When you have collected all ten pieces, you have a complete map of the maze. Now getting out is a breeze.

Also, scattered throughout the maze are Kernels of Knowledge, fact boards which answer the fifteen farm trivia questions--such as "Why are so many barns painted red?" (Because of relatively inexpensive red paint)--that are part of the game as well.

"There's just one entrance and one exit, and several way to get between the two," explained Marshall.

The shortest route through the maze is a half-mile in length; there are tow miles of pathways in all. The maze is rather straightforward and the staff have noted that kids often have the easiest time of finding their way through because they don't seem to overthink what they're doing.

"If you know where you are in the picture and you know where it is you want to be, it's not too difficult to go and find it," Marshall pointed out. "A key element is to trust that you haven't missed anything along the way. One of the major points that makes people stay in the maze a long time is that they start to doubt themselves and they turn around and go back just to make sure they haven't missed a path. Then they get confused and turned around."

PREPARING TO BE (A)MAZED

It's a crisp autumn afternoon and folks are eager to take the challenge of solving the puzzle and finding their way out of the cornfield. They know there's a chance they'll get lost, though they're mostly confident they'll be able to navigate its twists and turns.

That is, until the Maze Caller unleashes the hard facts on the. "The average time is an hour and the quickest time today was by a group of teenage girls who made it through in just about 20 minutes," he announces. There's a collective sigh of relief until he adds, "And the longest time was by an older couple at three hours and five minutes."

The crowd groans.

The Farmers, as the maze walkers are called, have the option of carrying a tall colored flag that makes their whereabouts known. It's not an uncommon sight to see a flag repeatedly going back and forth in the same spot, a sure sign of a lost Farmer.

"There's always help if you need it," the Maze Caller shouts. "Situated up high on a platform in the center of the maze is the Maze Master. He can see you from above and will point you in the right direction if you ask him."

"However, in order to approach him, you must call him by his formal title which is, 'Oh Mighty Maze Master.' And don't be surprised if he ask for a bit of entertainment--a little song or dance in exchange for the coveted information," the Maze Caller warns.

They're warned, they're ready. They enter the maze.

EACH FARMER'S TREK IS UNIQUE

The time of twenty minutes by the group of teenage girls is considered remarkable, though the record is fifteen minutes. But what about that three-hour and five-minute couple?

Stanton tells the story: "I was working in the maze filling mailboxes. I was coming around to mailbox four, which is really a very difficult piece to find, and I heard this squeal, "Oh we found it!" I saw this older couple embracing because they had found their final piece. I mean it was heartwarming; it was really wonderful as they stole a kiss in the cornfield. And I kind of just hung back a little bit. I really didn't want to interrupt this great moment they were having."

"I told them they had just made my whole weekend," Stanton explained. "They had just taken in the whole experience without a care about the time. They were truly enjoying the outdoors and each other."

"I later found out they had asked for children's tickets at the box office when they arrived, explaining they were children at heart," she said.

But not everybody works together so well in the maze. Some people actually turn against each other, completely ignoring their partner's suggestions.

Lines like, "I told you we were going the wrong way," and "What were you thinking?" are blurted out. The staff joke around, saying there's a counseling booth se up next to the concession stand.

As participants take on individual strategies, the maze becomes a personal journey. While inside, you cannot be positive about every decision you make--and you live with the consequences of your turns. (Sort of parallels life, huh?) The exit is achieved through a series of trials and errors.

Some people want help at ever turn. "I tell them to just go, keep walking," Stanton explained. "Enjoy the journey. There are some discoveries you have to make on your own."

But a few people just don't like the out-of-control feeling that comes from being deep inside a maze. They're the ones who don't bother to address the Maze Master with the "Oh, Mighty" prefix. They just look up and shout, "Get me out of here."

"When I'm the Maze Master, I immediately tell them left, right, right, left or whatever, "Marshall says. "Whatever it takes to get them out."

In contrast, some people like being inside the maze so much, they actually volunteer to help after making it through. Altogether, the maze is staffed with about fifteen volunteers per shift, all working for the good of the farm, the camaraderie and a free lunch.

Operating 25 days in total in 1997, (every weekend from late August through October, including a couple of moonlit nights), the maze raised approximately one-quarter of the barn's restoration costs. There are plans for three more mazes--each a different configuration--over the next three years. The 1998 maze is scheduled to open August 1. For more information, call Howell Living History Farm at 609/737-3299.

Kenneth Wajda is a freelance writer/photographer from Lambertville. He and his wife, Mary, enjoyed their maze experience so much that they were among those who volunteered to work the maze.