Summer 2010
Ingenuity
Get a Clue
Families flock to cornfield puzzle
By Peggy Shinn
Photographed by Vyto Starinskas
In 2004, with the presidential election coming up, Irene Hathaway took a pencil and paper and sketched out a maze in the shapes of the Democratic donkey and Republican elephant. She had read about corn mazes in a farming magazine and suggested the idea of starting one to her husband, Byron, whose family has owned their farm since 1942. Byron, Irene and their sons, BJ and Sawyer, raise beef, and they certainly had plenty of corn.
“I thought it was a really neat idea,” Irene recalls, “but my husband thought it was crazy, because why would you want to dig up perfectly good corn?”
Irene prevailed and soon began calculating how large the maze should be to fit in about six acres. She then took her drawing, a tape measure and compass, and, using a John Deere tractor and tiller, cut paths in the corn. The Hathaway Farm in Rutland — known for the “1881” written prominently on the barn’s green slate roof — had its first corn maze.
“People really liked it, and it’s just grown from there,” she says.
Since that first year, the Hathaway Farm has become one of the most popular summer attractions in Rutland. The Hathaways say it is now the largest corn maze in Vermont, covering 12 acres, and often hundreds of families visit on busy weekends. As a business, the maze is not a money-spinner, but Irene says, “We’ve done OK. People don’t understand the amount of work that goes into it and the Mother Nature factor: Bad weather is not conducive to exploring a corn maze. But we do make a little, and when you are farmers, every little bit helps.”
The maze has a new theme every year (visit www.hathawayfarm.com for the 2010 theme). Last year, the theme was astronomy, and Irene cut the paths in the outline of a man looking through a telescope, as well as stars and galaxies. The previous year, it was “Lost in Vermont,” with state icons that included a sugarhouse and a skier cut into the corn.
To come up with themes, Irene seeks ideas from her customers, especially kids. “How ’bout an underwater theme?” suggested one young visitor last summer.
“I thought that was pretty clever,” she says. “Unless you’re 8, can you think of these things?”
The entrance to the maze is clear: Walk under the colorfully painted sign across the road from the “1881” barn. Ten feet into the maze, though, the path is less clear. Right or left? Even if you make the correct choice, the path diverges again in another 10 or 20 feet.
Fortunately, the Hathaways have included clues at eight different junctions in the maze. They are theme-related multiple-choice questions with paths marked A, B and C leading away from the clue. For example, in last summer’s astronomy maze, one clue asked which late-night talk show host imitated Carl Sagan’s “billions” expression. Answer correctly (Johnny Carson), and 4’d be on the right path. At least for another 10 feet.
“We don’t always put [the clues] in the key locations,” Irene says, “but we put them where you’re more likely to see them.”
To add to the puzzle, the Hathaways also hide eight paper punches throughout the maze. The punches, each making a different patterned hole (circle, snowflake, etc.), are placed in green canisters that look remarkably like ears of corn. Look closely, and follow every path to find them, even the dead ends.
“I don’t hide them,” Irene says with a smile. “They’re on the paths. There are just a lot of paths!”
Fill out a punch card with all eight, and you will be entered in a raffle. Last year, the prize was a telescope.
For those with limited time — or tired children — early exits are placed around the cornfield’s perimeter, and the halfway point has both a snack bar and an exit. Bail out here or dive into the second half, usually a little more difficult than the first half, warns Irene.
Hint: The GPS app on your smart phone won’t show you the way but will tell you if you’re walking in circles or retracing your steps.
Complete the entire maze, and you may have walked over two miles, Irene says. (Vermont farmers have a way of understating the task at hand.) Some people spend an entire afternoon in the maze. Others bail out after a few minutes.
“Some kids love it, and some kids aren’t into hiking around,” says Irene. “But some will not leave until they have found all the punches. Everybody has different goals when they get here.”
Most people come to the maze to entertain their children. But if the maze doesn’t hold their interest, the animals probably will. Inside the big barn are pigs (and sometimes piglets), miniature donkeys, sheep, pygmy goats, a bunny and a big friendly cat that likes to lie on the cashier’s counter. You can also take a hayride around the farm.
When you’re done, ask Irene for an aerial view of the maze. You’ll see where you went wrong. And where you went right. But you won’t see the locations of the “hidden” paper punches. Those you have to find on your own.
If you go
What: Hathaway Farm Corn Maze
Where: About four miles north of downtown Rutland off Route 7 on Prospect Hill Road. Look for red, green and yellow signs that say “1881 Corn Maze.”
When: Open from the last weekend in July through October, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., every day except Tuesday. On Saturdays, from 5 to 9 p.m., explore the maze by moonlight or glow stick in “Moonlight Madness.”
Cost: $10 for adults 12 and older, $8 for ages 4-11 and seniors 65 and older. Kids 3 and under free.
Phone: (802) 775-2624
Website: www.hathawayfarm.com
