Amaizing-Acres prepares for fifth year
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Amaizing-Acres, a corn maze and pumpkin patch, which operates annually south of Maryville, will begin its fifth year of operation this fall.
The initial idea for a corn maze in northwest Missouri began a little over six years ago while Richard and Teresa Johnson were watching an episode of the Travel Channel about corn mazes, pumpkin patches and haunted houses.
“We had recently been talking about retirement and thought this might be a great idea for our farm,” Richard Johnson said. “We had happy memories of taking our daughters to pick pumpkins in the fall when they were young.”
The Johnson’s are Nodaway County natives, who now spend about half their time in Texas, however that hasn’t stopped them from having a yearly family event in northwest Missouri.
Amaizing-Acres is located about eight miles south of Maryville and opened in the fall of 2011.
This fall marks the fifth year of the family fun corn maze and pumpkin patch, and Johnson said they have worked hard to make it a great fall family destination.
“We looked at other farms across the country to see what they were doing and tried to figure out what would work best for our farm,” Johnson said. “My daughter, Whitney, and I traveled to The Maize company convention in December of 2010 and that got us even more excited about the possibilities for our farm.”
Work started on the farm in the spring of 2011 and has been a work in progress ever since.
Each year new attractions are added to make the fall agri-entertainment experience even better for families looking for good old-fashioned fun on the farm.
Johnson said the entire family plays a huge part in the yearly design of the corn maze.
“We come up with the basic design and then submit it to The Maize Company, who then critiques it and the additional maze paths are added to finish the design,” Johnson said. “The corn is usually cut when it is less than a foot tall, and throughout the summer we have to keep the two plus miles of paths in the maze free of weeds.”
Amaizing-Acres is more than just a corn maze. It offers the community several different recreational opportunities during the fall including a pumpkin patch, and has many great playground attractions for children of all ages to enjoy. Johnson says that the number one priority on the farm is safety and the number two is having fun.
This year, they are adding a new maze game called “Farm Scene Investigation” loosely based off the television show CSI.
It’s still about a month away from this year’s opening but Johnson said they are always thinking ahead to next years maze design.
Amaizing-Acres is open Sept. 19 through Nov. 1 this year and is open weekends to the public and weekdays for groups of all kinds. For more information you can visit their website atwww.amaizing-acres.com.
