Lost in the maize

If you were to fly a plane over the state of Indiana, every once in awhile, you might think you were in the movie "Signs." An aerial view of the terrain would show elaborate shapes and patterns like a giant patchwork quilt. \nThat's because autumn marks the season of corn mazes -- the human-scale labyrinths beaten through the stalks of farm crops. Though they might look like the crop circle handiwork of aliens from outer space, they're actually the fruits of hard Hoosier manual labor. \nMaze making has a long and winding past. From the Minoan temple at Knossos, prior to, and ever since then, many world cultures have joined in the fascination. Some traditions even had a spiritual aspect connected to the maze, which often incorporated dance and other ceremonies. In European history, garden mazes sculpted out of topiaries and tall hedges were often used to deter unwanted visitors or enemies from castles.\nBut today, mazes have seized even the Western world as an enjoyable family pasttime. Though spiritual and protective purposes may be left behind in previous chapters, there are still educational benefits in mazes, such as map-reading, problem-solving, orientation and logic. \nJust 40 miles from of Bloomington, visitors can scramble through the Poppin Corn Maze, part of the Family Pumpkin Patch in Greenfield, Ind. \nJay Hine and his family own and manage the Family Pumpkin Patch, which provides an array of fall activities, including hayrides, live entertainment, karaoke and the corn maze. \nJackie White, a volunteer at the Family Pumpkin Patch, says Hine incorporated the corn maze into the fall activities of the Family Pumpkin Patch in 2001. The maze provided three miles of paths that were cut into more than 12 acres of corn using GPS. \nWhile the maze was a hit, it only provided patrons with pathways that didn't make for a very challenging maze, White says. \nIn 2002, Hine attended a corn maze seminar and was introduced to the idea of cutting a design into the corn instead of just plain pathways. After the seminar, Hine signed with Shawn Stolworthy of Great Adventure Corn Mazes, which designs and cuts mazes into cornfields, White says. \nThe process of creating a corn maze starts early in the year. To begin, Hine and his family sit down together every January and plan an original design for that year's corn maze. \n"Shawn designs his own mazes as well, but this is a family-owned business and we like to get the whole family involved and come up with our own design," Hine says. \nSome of the previous years' designs that Hine and his family have come up with have included a basketball motif honoring Reggie Miller and, in 2002, when the FIBA Basketball World Championship games were played in Indianapolis, the logo was incorporated in the design.\nAfter creating a concept, Hine meets with Stolworthy in July, when the corn is low, to show him the design and start cutting the corn. \nStolworthy says he uses GPS technology to help with the cutting process. He begins by taking detailed aerial photographs of the area where the corn maze will be located. He then employs a computer program that superimposes GPS coordinates onto the photographs. To cut the corn, Stolworthy drives a tractor according to those GPS coordinates through the field as the last part of the process. The cutting process for the Poppin Corn Maze takes about 48 hours. \n"It's amazing that you can go from a couple aerial shots of a cornfield to a complete corn maze in just 48 hours with this kind of technology," Hine says. \nGloria Burris, also a volunteer at the Family Pumpkin Patch, said that only the corn that is cut is not usable, the rest of the corn is harvested after the corn maze is over, which is Nov. 1. \nThis year, in the spirit of Halloween and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel, the design is an elaborate pirate skull with swords as crossbones, a treasure map and treasure chest covering 4.6 miles of trails in 14 acres of corn. \n"The designs have been very successful, we have a different design each year, and everybody who comes just loves it," Burris says.\nTo play the game, volunteers give each maze patron a map of the corn maze and a punch card. In order to successfully complete the maze, one must find each of the 12 punch posts that are incorporated within the maze and have the card punched each time. \nMore than 5,000 people attempt to find their way out of the maze each year. \n"Some people can do it quickly, while others give up after getting lost a few times," Burris says. \n"We do rescue searches on Monday mornings," White jokes. \nBen Belchoirs, a senior at Butler University and an executive member of the Butler University Student Foundation, attended the maze with the rest of the club last weekend. It is the second year that the organization has come to the Family Pumpkin Patch for a retreat. \n"It's a great place for a retreat," Belchoirs says. "It provides a good opportunity for bonding within the organization, They have a lot of activities the members can participate in together, and afterwards, we can hold our workshops." \nThe Poppin Corn Maze is open on the weekends for five weeks each year, from Sept. 23 to Nov. 1. The maze hours are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. \nFor more information and directions to the Family Pumpkin Patch, call (317) 281-1573.