2019 Thamesville Maze (Courtesy  Ingrid Dieleman)2019 Thamesville Maze (Courtesy Ingrid Dieleman)
Chatham

Opening weekend for Thamesville corn maze

For those who like some challenging fun, the Thamesville Maize Farm is now officially open for the season.

IMaze, located on Longwoods Road, opened on Saturday and runs until the end of October. Ken and Ingrid Dieleman have been running the 11-acre corn maze on their farm since 2001. Each year they select a different theme for the maze design, this year selecting 'Crossroads to the Future.'

"This year we've partnered with the Thamesville Area Business Association because they are celebrating a Crossroads to the Future for Thamesville," explained Ingrid. "So they are actually having a celebration on September 7. They'll be playing the Back to the Future film and whatnot."

The maze itself features the Thamesville logo, Thamesville clock tower and the famous DeLorean car from the movie.

It takes Ingrid about a week to put the design into the field, explaining that she uses the "old school method" of counting every row of corn and marking with paint where each path needs to be before she goes in and clears it out.

She said they design it so that it's suitable for all ages and levels of corn maze expertise.

"Because it's so large, it's split into two parts," said Ingrid. "A phase one and phase two. So people can traverse one side and have a break then they can traverse the other side...We also have a smaller field that's about an acre in size, that has a smaller corn maze in it for kids."

Their farm features several other activities in addition to the giant maze including mini mazes, picnic areas, animals and a you-pick pumpkin patch. This year, Ingrid said they also added a new feature.

"We actually built a new building which we put a corn pit in," she explained. "The corn pit itself is 24' x 24' and it has about 500 bushels of corn in it for kids and adults to play in."

The maze is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. They also welcome field trips and group reservations. Click here for more information on hours of operation and admission prices.

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