When the father and son team of Donald and Blake Cooke designed and built the 2008 Carter County Corn Maze as a fundraiser of the FFA chapters at East Carter and West Carter high schools and for the Carter County Fair, they probably did not envision those nearing the age of retirement as a target audience.

Instead, they probably thought spending time winding one’s way through paths cut through tall stalks of corn would appeal mainly to teenagers and children, not adults old enough to know better.

But the sponsors of the Carter County Corn Maze don’t know me and my wife. As soon as I read about the maze in The Independent, I knew I had to go through it.

To those who know me well, my desire to tackle the corn maze should not have been surprising. After all, I love doing puzzles. I am constantly working cryptograms, crossword puzzles, anagram magic squares and other word games.

While I admit that I’m not crazy about doing mazes found in books, the Carter County Corn Maze was different. It was three dimensional, making it a real maze instead of just lines drawn on a flat piece of paper.

At first, I tried to get my granddaughter and then two of my friends to go through the maze with me. But for different reasons, that didn’t work out.

Fortunately, I happen to be married to this lovely lady who, upon occasion, also can be a bit adventuresome. Thus, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, a bald-headed 60-year-old man, and his silver-haired wife — nearly as old as he — took off for Grayson for the sole purpose of going through the corn maze.

Since we were a little short of cash, we raided our money jars — which is where we dump our loose change — to scrounge up the $10 we needed for the maze. When we arrived at the maze — which is at the new Carter County Fairgrounds off U.S. 60 just west of Grayson — I handed the young lady selling tickets a plastic sandwich bags with a few quarters and lots of nickels and dimes.

“I’m pretty sure this is $10,” I told her.

She started to count the money, then tired of that. “Well, it certainly looks like $10 to me,” she said. Her helper agreed and gave us our tickets.

I thought about telling the young lady who took my money to remember that in a year when both presidential candidates are promising change, I fulfilled that promise — and I’m not running for anything. But I remained silent. I figured that with acres and acres of corn nearby, she probably would not appreciate my corny joke.

The sign at the entrance said it would take between 30 minutes and an hour to get through the maze, which consists of 1.6 miles of winding, intersecting paths through the corn.

My wife and I made it through it in about 35 minutes. I could boast that our better-than-average time means that we are two old people who are skilled navigators who pretty much knew what we were doing.

But that would be a lie. There is only one possible explanation for our good time: Pure luck. If I went through the maze a second time I would not know any more where I was going and how to get there than I did the first time.

When we first arrived, my wife said: “I want you in the lead. That will give me somebody to blame.”

Upon coming to a place where paths intersected a few minutes later, I opted to turn left.

“I think you just made a big mistake,” my wife said as a word of encouragement.

“What makes you think that?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I just do,” she replied.

Well, she was wrong. The path I had chosen continued to wind through the corn with no dead ends.

Soon, we came to another place where we had to decide which way to turn.

“Your turn,” I said. “I made the last decision.”

Her choice turned out to be the biggest mistake of our entire journey through the corn. We must have traveled about 200 feet — or more — before coming to a dead end, forcing us to turn back.

There are small signs placed throughout the corn to help guide one through the maze. My wife and I found the signs numbered 1, 2, and 3 in rather quick order. We were feeling good about ourselves until we came to sign No. 6 without ever spotting 4 and 5. Next we came to sign No. 9. I have no idea where signs No. 7 and No. 8 are. But once we found No. 9, we found Nos. 10, 11 and 12 and then the exit in rather quick order.

And my greatest fear — that of going from sign 9 back to sign 7, or something like that — was never realized.

If having two soon-to-be senior citizens spending good money to go through a corn maze strikes you as a bit childish, maybe it is. But I think there is a little bit of kid in all of us, and if we ever reach the point where we can’t enjoy a little silly fun, then we definitely are taking ourselves too seriously.

I’m looking forward to going through the corn maze next year, but I may not wait that long. I may just take another trip to Grayson to go through the maze a second time this year. After all, I want to beat my time. Or not.

JOHN CANNON can be reached at jcannon@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2649.`

 

 

 

Published: September 17, 2008 10:53 pm     

Corn maze in Carter County to offer fun, frights and challenges

By TIM PRESTON
The Independent
GRAYSON — Even those with a keen sense of direction may find themselves seeking clues to point them toward the exit of the five-acre Carter County Corn Maze set to open Saturday near the county fairgrounds.

The 3-D puzzle is a cooperative project by members of the East and West Carter High School FFA chapters and the Carter County Fair Board. The complex maze design, which incorporates a barn, silo, tractor and pumpkin along with the words “2008 Carter County Corn Maze” was designed by FFA alumni Blake Cooke, who executed the design with assistance from his father, Donald Cooke.

“It took us three weeks to get it done after Blake designed it,” Cooke said with a chuckle, explaining the planting and mowing was definitely a learning experience.

The father and son initially surveyed the property and decided to use a grid pattern to create the paths and images within the field corn crop. As the crop grew, Cooke said they eliminated plants from specific areas to leave a smooth path. Even though he has been involved with the project from the start, Cooke said the maze has gotten the better of him at times.

“If you get out there and start working in it, you forget where you’re at. I’ve been lost numerous times,” Cooke said, adding the maze will be staffed with volunteers to help lost individuals or groups find their way, and there will also be clues to help people determine which way to go.

Cooke predicts the corn maze will be particularly popular with adults and high school students during the Halloween season.

“There are a lot of secret passages. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said.

People who find their way through the maze with no wrong turns will have walked eight-tenths of a mile, he said, while those who go the wrong way could walk every inch of the total 1.6 miles of pathways within the corn crop.

“Some of them could walk even further than that if they double back,” he said.

Cooke said his son’s design incorporates the John Deere “JD” in the spokes of the tractor’s wheels, and an FFA logo in the barn. Much of the design process was the result of trial and error, Cooke said.

“It takes a lot to lay these things out,” he said.

Carter County Fair Board member Jill York said individuals will pay $5 to test their navigation skills in the corn maze and receive a souvenir. Groups, who are asked to call a week in advance to make arrangements, can tackle the maze, have a meal and get a hayride for $7.50 per person.

York said the Halloween “haunted Maze” will be “a very different tone, it will be spookier and probably not for the young or faint of heart.”

The “Night Maze” scheduled for each Saturday evening is expected to be a special challenge for those who want to try their pathfinding skills with only the assistance of a flashlight.

The seven-week schedule for the Carter County Corn Maze “is evolving” York said, with plans including two movie nights (likely to include a horror film on Halloween), a petting zoo, pumpkin patch, hay bale climb and a cow train for younger visitors. The cow train, York said, is a series of painted barrels on wheels towed by a small tractor and built by local FFA students. Sorghum making demonstrations are set for Sept. 27 and 28, and again Oct. 11 and 12.

For more information or to make group reservations, visit www.cartercountyfair.org or call (606) 474-7263.

     

Meterologist Tony Cavalier shows aerial photo of maze

Viewer to Channel 3's 6 pm news report were treated to the birds-eye-view of the corn maze.