A shout out to Portage Awning who helped us this past weekend by providing a 120 foot long tent for one of our corporate groups who came to see Megasaurus.
Mega flame thrower
This is a local story about how buying local works, read “the rest of the story”.
A 40' by 120 foot long tent
We get many great corporate groups ranging from 20 people to in this case 400. The Ariel Corporation is located over near Green and is one of the worlds largest manufacturer of natural gas transfer pumps. They are smart hard working people who have visited with us on many occasions over the years.
Ariel Corp. CEO Karen Buchwald Wright is “the last 'man' standing” to run the company that her father founded.
This local shop was started by a local man Steve Smyers as Standard Jig Bore and purchased by Ariel from Mt. Vernon Ohio a few years ago. Steve started the shop from his garage many years ago and was a customer of ours when we were a grain elevator and agricultural supply provider.
Old pop can vs. new
Among other things Steve helped develop the top of pop cans when you open it the tab stays with the can, remember the days of those little tabs you pulled off??!!
Portage Awning is the Bogdanovich family. Three brothers working together one of them lives just up the road from me. One of the brothers wives is a Stark County Sheriff deputy and is stationed at Marlington High School. They hire lots of local kids to help set these tents up and are right around the corner when the wind starts blowing on our hilltop to help keep those big tents upright.
Michelle behind our catering trailer loaded to the MAX!
On Mega-day Ariel opted for one of our full catering packages that included a meal for their employees and they wanted everyone to be able to sit down together so we needed a big tent.
One big tent!
Seating for 400 people.
A humble welcome sign we have.
So their is nothing wrong about buying where you find the best value we just wanted to highlight and say thanks to all our guests who come out and support our efforts in the fall. Oh we don’t always please everyone, trust me we hear. That takes some sorting out and we are not always a fit for everyone and that is okay.
So what is everyone waiting for?
Personally I have received so many thanks from people this fall “for doing this” as we stand near the pumpkin cannon or the NASHOG pig race track or wherever. But it is by so many people coming and supporting us (Mega-day was our biggest single day ever in 15 years) that we are able to hire local and provide opportunities for companies to give back to their staff.
Mega having a snack
All this together helps improve the quality of life in our community, generates opportunities for growth and in a small way is one of those things that help make life worth living in Northeastern Ohio.
We had so many campfires our Police chief patrolling said it was like a "Village".
We open our Corn Maze in Mid-September but our Balloon Lift has grown into our sort of unofficial Kick Off for the fall harvest season. It takes a few crisp mornings and few trees changing color to get people thinking about a trip to the pumpkin patch or corn maze.
Up close and personal
Our balloon lift started over a dozen years ago when I asked a neighbor who owned a balloon if he would get a few friends together and take off from our farm. It has gotten to be a fall tradition. We launch between six and eight balloons from the meadow up back near our corn maze and campfire site area. Folks are welcome to get a up close view of the balloon crews at work as they prepare to take to the skies.
Grab a seat wherever you can!
You can bring a blanket a lawn chair or grab a seat wherever you can! Our giant hay/straw crawl is a favorite place to relax as the balloons unfold and inflate and take to the skies.
Or just keep crawling!
Kids just love to climb on things! One thing we learned over the years is if it sticks up out of the field, Kids love to climb on it so we just go with it. We try and build as many farm theme consistent safe and fun fresh air opportunities to get out and have fun!
Wide open spaces!
One unique thing about our farm is the setting. We sit up on a nice gentle hilltop surrounded by fields. The field we launch balloons from we make hay off of.
Somebody left their "sippy cup" unattended!
Some people ask can you have alcohol at a “family event”? We say yes you can. There are three to six hours worth of activities depending upon your level of abilities and interests. Folks can easily enjoy our wines or now new craft beers responsibly and be safe going home.
Did I mention kids like to climb?
We encourage parents to get out and have fun with their off spring! We have lots of places for fresh air and exercise. So come on out September 27th, visit the balloon lift link on our web site for more information.
It was my 50th birthday and I’m REAL hard to buy for so my wonderful wife planned an awesome trip over to the Finger Lakes wine country in Western New York state. It was a great time, we took our camper just the two of us and I made place to haul my motorcycle on the back. We had a blast, we spent a few days riding around the area then headed back home on my birthday July 10th.
And we are ready to roll!
On our way home we drove in pouring across 90. It got so bad I pulled off as I was afraid I might get rear ended because visibility was so bad. We got through it and drove home. As we got close we heard Akron had huge flooding and it stormed pretty hard but didn’t think much about it. The next day I went out and checked the fields not expecting what I’d find.
What was 5 feet tall yesterday was 1 foot tall today
We got about 2.5 inches of rain in about a half an hour with heavy wind gusts that bent the corn over to the ground.
Flattened near the observation tower.
Corn is a tough plant and I’d seen it blown over before and stand back up but not when it was this tall. Much of this field was over five feet tall and it was bent and broken just a few inches above ground level.
The flattened corn fell into the maze paths
The flattened corn had fallen into the maze paths I had proudly cut just a few weeks earlier and made me uncertain would I be able to still craft a maze into this field. I still needed to roto-till these paths yet, and I wasn’t sure what I had in the way of design left. The soil was saturated and if you tried to pick up a stalk it snapped off at the ground.
What to do with this mess?
So I took the advise of my father in law Kay and my buddy Dave from Iowa, walk away and come back in a week.
About 10 days later this is what I found!
I came back and this what I found…..It mostly stood back up, at least enough to make a corn maze!
Bent at the base but still standing!
The stalks were “Goosenecked” and bent but the plants had mostly righted themselves. The field sort of shifted over about a foot but it all moved in a relative fashion so the paths I had mowed earlier were maintained.
Roto tilling went well!
Tilling the paths went well and we were able to clean up the edges nicely and it made for a great aerial photo.
2013 LoCo Motion final photo
We ended up getting a great picture and had a record year for the fall. And best of all when we harvested later in November the field yielded over 140 bushels to the acre even with all the paths cut out of it!
In past blog posts have talked about what we do to get the corn growing in the field that we use to create a corn maze. Now it is time to bring the field to life you might say!
Our 2013 Corn Maze Aireal Photograph
The above photograph is of our 2013 “LoCo-Motion” corn maze adventure. Each year we theme our mazes to reflect an idea we think our guests will find enjoyable. Inside the maze are games and activities to do that reflect the designs theme. We have done NASCAR, the BIG FOOT monster truck, the Pony Express and more over the past 13 years. At first we cut the designs by “hand” with flags and grid paper. Later we hired it done by a professional maze carver. Two years ago we purchased our own Global Positioning Satellite guided system to guide us as we cut the corn. Yes we plant the corn first as discussed in a previous blog post, then we carve the design into a solid field of corn.
Maze design in file form on computor
The above pic shows what we start with. We hire a graphic artist to design a cool design and put it into a share able file that we can load onto software on a laptop that we connect to a specially designed GPS system. The the design for 2014 features a Sea Turtle and the trivia games in the maze will be Sea Turtle related as well.
The 2014 Design displayed on my laptop
The GPS system is very accurate so you need a machine that is very maneuverable to take advantage of the detail in the designs. We do what we call “Art Mazes” for a reason.
Commercial Toro Zero Turn Mower with GPS system mounted
You could say you cannot tell what the maze looks like when you are in it and you are mostly correct. But we do more we wrap a whole game and experience around the maze and the photo needs to reflect that. We take pictures and hang them on the walls of our winery/brewery for people to look at all year long, people love to stop and stare and take in that we can actually take the design and actually transfer it to the field so well.
Path right after cutting
The above photo shows what the paths look like right after we cut them. We do not stop there. About two to three weeks later we go over the entire design with a roto-tiller to kill any remaining corn, grind up the cut off stalks and level the paths better for strollers and power or wheel chairs.
Paths after roto-tilling
The above photo shows the paths after roto-tilling. In order to get the proper look to the design we sometimes take our wider sections of corn. The below pic is what it looks like before we hit it with the tiller.
Pre-rototilling, a lot of corn survives the mower!
Following the mowed paths
Click Here to watch a video I made using my Go Pro as I cut the maze.
Now we wait till a few weeks before opening day to come back in and set the games and activities portion of the corn maze. It usually takes about an hour to complete the game sheet and find the various trivia questions and other things to follow along with if the guest choose to do so. The corn maze at one time was all we were about along with picking pumpkins. Over the years we have evolved into a unique fall harvest destination with a winery and new for 2014 we will be one of Ohio’s newest craft breweries also.
Breakfast with Santa, every year we do an “Over the top” breakfast with Santa and gradually have gotten to be know as “Thee place to be” for this type of event. People start calling us to make pre-paid reservations in October! This event
Ho, Ho, HO! Let it snow!
First of all we take pre-paid reservations only for this event. Call us up, we get your information and reserve you a place to enjoy the event. We like to make sure everyone has the time and room they need for whatever size their group is. The breakfast is done buffet style where we serve our guests as they move through the line. Nobody leaves hungry and we keep it neat and full.
Chow line!
The chairs that the night before had guests sitting around the winery enjoying wine and food while listening to live entertainment are now filled with families bridging the generational gaps and finding way to enjoy each others company while of course waiting to meet the “Big Guy”!
One of our Reserved seating areas
Next post we’ll take more detailed look at what else goes on with Santa.
If you would like to learn more about our special events please visit
Ok so if you havn’t seen the movie “Cars” you may not know who the i’ll tempered Combine “Frank” is that chases Lightning and Mater across the field protecting his flock of tractors from the “Tractor Tipping Duo”!
My father in law requested the tailings fan
Now I guess I just “think” different than other people??
My Son Brett lending a helping hand
Ya see some of the doctors say Brett is mildly “Autistic”. My “therapy” for him is to immerse him in hands on experiences that teach him to think and use all his senses to forge new pathways and live a full life. Farmer Bill’s take on a condition.
Parts and pieces parts
We will save all this stuff and haul it to the scrap yard this winter.
Looks like a Future ball pit if ya axe me!
Slide, slide, everywhere a slide blockin' out the.....
My wife is a "Survivor" more than I can say 4 this van!
Pink Van 4 Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the cure
Marlboro Madness getting ready 4 work
Straw Crawl "Pre-Season"!
Straw crawl "Post Season"!
It was a long and wonderful fall harvest season here at Maize Valley! BEST one EVER! Thank you to all of those of you who came out and enjoyed one of the best weather fall periods we have ever experienced. It all started on Sept. 18th with the balloon lift off and wrapped up with Oct. 31st finding our crew still hard at work in the Carnage in the Corn Haunted Corn maze which was way too much fun!
Great weather came together with great effort to make this season a rewarding time for all of us. The grapes had their best harvest ever with all the heat from the summer and a late frost letting them store up extra energy for the coming winter after we were finished picking.
The half marathon was a huge success, a new greenhouse is going up at the main farm and the vintner dinners keep selling out. We are looking forward to a great Thanksgiving and Christmas season and then we will start pouring the coal to next year’s slate of special events.
All this is only possible with great staff, great neighbors and wonderful guests each and every day. Thank you all and look for Maize Valley to “Bring it” even harder in 2011. At Maize Valley We Make Great Wine…FUN! 🙂
We think Maize Valley farm market and winery is Northeast Ohio’s most complete fall harvest destination. From Cabernet to Corn Mazes, from Haunted Scares to Syrah we have you covered. Years ago when we started corn mazes and pumpkin picking were about it. Now while they are still what you might call the “fulcrum” to our fall “lever” they are just one part of the Maize Valley experience. We have added NASHOG Pig Races, Duck races, an expanded play area, a haunted corn maze and woods walk, plus our awesome pumpkin cannon and more.
Factor in all the great food we produce on site, and even award winning wines if you so choose to enjoy with the rest of the experience while at Maize Valley, you can easily spend four to six hours with us on a sun drenched autumn afternoon. I guess we are a winery with ADHD and maybe more!
At Maize Valley we strive to deliver and experience packed full of value for the individual, family or group. Coming this fall for 2010, on September 18th the corn maze opens with a great big ole’ faarrrrr (fire), followed on the 25th by a balloon lift off. On October 1st our way fun haunted Carnage in the corn opens then on October 9th Megasaurus the fire breathing car crushing metal monster comes to Maize Valley to make it’s version of pumpkin pie! Add in campfires, and all the fall fun that build memories that last a lifetime.
I think people are best summed up with pictures rather than words. I hear they had an estimated attendance of about 70,000 of them so you are bound to get some great shots!
The Chunkin for the Cure Cannon
I even snuck a quick ride in over the the Atlantic Shore
I even snuck a quick ride in over the the Atlantic Shore
Cammo coat and a wedding dress!
Check out the Porta-Jon in the back of the pickup truck!
When you run out of Horse shoes
I just have a “wanna beee” beard! I’m the one on the right!
Move over “Corn Hole”, when in Rome…
Awesome
Improvised field games
Take corn cobs, black electricians tape, beer bottles, add corn field and friends!
Finally a good use for a Harley!
I had a Daiquiri for Breakfast and $$’s went to St. Judes!!
Above are just a few of the shots that made people watching at this event as much fun as watching the pumpkins fly!
The following video is way too long, sorry. Just drag and drop to the last 30 seconds or so to see the shot.
You can visit their link I have with the pics above to get the history to how all this got started but as you can see it has just gotten way out of control. Just as it should, I hear there are some machines here that have around $400,000.00 invested in them. That was just the word on the street, uh er chunkin line, I can’t say for sure.
My little air cannon (pictured below) has about a 20 foot 8 inch diameter barrel. It was a grain leg drop tube used for filling bins back in the day when we were a grain storage facility. The tank I found at a propane supplier that was surplus material, and so goes much of the rest of the parts. I have a range of about 2500 feet, these big guys much more with a bigger pumpkin too!
Marlboro Madness Maize Valley Pumpkin Cannon
Low buck, safe, make a profit was my motivation these guys take it too a whole other level. I think Tim Allen would be proud! Again you can go to the Science Channels website or You Tube to see more but I will put a video clip here that I took at the event. It is sort of long and the shot takes place towards the end (1:45) as when you are filming them you never quite know when it is going to go off.
