2.75-mile corn maze raises money for trail

A court house-shaped corn maze has raised nearly $10,000 to help finance a new trail along the Whitewater Canal in Metamora, Ind.\nThe 2.75-mile maze is located on Mick Wilz’s farm, about one mile outside of Metamora, and was constructed by Wilz’s son, Willy Wilz, and IU freshman Adam Kaiser. It came as the answer for the lack of funding the Metamora community faced in trying to add an extension to the current Whitewater Canal Trail system.\nOn Oct. 13, Whitewater Canal Trail, Inc. hosted the grand opening of the most recently finished part of the Whitewater Canal trail, which runs for 2.6 miles through Metamora. The objective is to create another trail connecting the existing Metamora trail to another one-mile long trail in nearby Yellow Bank. Altogether, the finished trail will be eight miles long, said Terry Duffy, a member of the board of directors for Whitewater Canal Trail, Inc. \nThe corn maze is a primary source of fundraising to finish the trail project that will continue over the next several years, Duffy said. The recently opened Metamora portion cost close to $250,000, mostly funded by a grant of $150,000 from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The cost of the rest of the trail is still unknown. \nThe city could have waited to receive more grant money to fund the trail, but Mick Wilz said the corn maze was a quicker way to get the money needed and provide “farm activities for our friends.” \n“Bike trails are important to the health and economy of the community,” Mick Wilz said.\nThe maze is open every weekend throughout October from 1 to 5 p.m. \n“It’s a real neat, inexpensive autumn experience,” said Jim Wilz, Mick’s brother.\nSo far, 2,500 visitors have gone through the maze, generating almost $10,000 to benefit the new Whitewater Canal trail. The maze costs $5 per person.\n“This is something that makes history in our community,” Willy Wilz said.\nThe maze was designed by Brookville local artist Jim Suhre and is cut in the shape of the Franklin County courthouse in Brookville to commemorate Brookville’s bicentennial this summer. The clock face of the courthouse reads 2:00 in honor of Brookville’s founding 200 years ago. \nThe maze covers an area of 10 acres and consists of two paths, one that leads to the center of the clock tower of the courthouse and one that runs along the base of the maze. \n“It’s bigger than you might think,” Jim Wilz said. “You get turned around and lost easily.”\nWilly Wilz and Kaiser, who knew each other from working together on the Wilz family farm, took charge in creating the maze. The process, which included spray painting the pattern onto the field and then going over the outline in a tractor to make paths, took two weeks and nearly 90 hours, Kaiser said. The maze took longer to complete than the men had expected.\n“One day (Mick Wilz) just asked us ... just put it to us,” Kaiser said. \nA major factor in the development of the maze was the weather, Willy Wilz and Kaiser said. Most of the work was done in the summer, so Willy Wilz and Kaiser had to beat the heat by working early in the morning or late in the afternoon. \nBut all the work is worth it if it means the new trail will be created, Kaiser said. \n“This is something that’s important to us,” he said. \nThis was the first year the Wilz family built a maze on their property, but from now on it will be a yearly project and both Willy Wilz and Kaiser intend to stay involved. The pattern, however, will change. The pair intends to do “something different with different sponsors” in the future, Willy Wilz said.