Feed the County’s Shaw depicted in annual maze
CARIBOU, Maine — Goughan’s Berry Farm of Caribou has announced the subject of their annual corn maze.
This year’s maze is a depiction of Dixie Shaw, executive director of Feed the County, within the outline of Aroostook County.
Feed the County has been a campaign spearheaded by Aroostook Savings and Loan, WAGM-TV and Catholic Charities of Maine with a collaborative mission to increase awareness of the hunger issue in local communities and to assist in collecting food and donations to help those in need.
“Dixie Shaw, with her iconic blonde braids and her energetic ‘can do’ attitude, leads a team of dedicated volunteers that help raise funds to support food banks that distribute food to more than 24 food pantries throughout The County,” said owners Mark and Gloria Goughan. “Goughan’s Berry Farm is grateful to help the Feed the County organization with this worthy cause, because together we make an amazing difference.”
The maze will be open beginning August 31st until Halloween from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. The farm is located on Rt. 161 south of Caribou on the Fort Fairfield Road.
This is the 12th year the farm has created a corn maze. The public is asked to try their luck at the many twists and turns that this six-acre puzzle offers, in an effort to complete the maze and find their way home.
“Every year the farm corn maze tries to honor, recognize or just say ‘thank you’ in a theme that helps in making this great state/country the best it can be,” said the Goughans. “This year’s borrowed theme, ‘Together We Make An A-Mazing Difference,’ is a way for Goughan Farms to not only help with the goals of Feed the County but also to say ‘thank you’ to the many dedicated and hardworking volunteers that truly make it all work.
The farm has also announced that on Saturday, Sept. 10, they will host a special daylong fundraiser event to benefit Feed The County.
John Swanberg, president of Aroostook Savings & Loan, explained, “We wanted to partner with a local family business and help plan a daylong family event to benefit Feed The County in celebration of our 80th anniversary at Aroostook Savings & Loan.
“We want to sincerely thank the Goughan Farm family for hosting this special fundraising event,” Swanberg, said, adding the upcoming winter season in Aroostook can be long and hard on many who struggle with food insecurity.
“We all can do our part to help make sure our friends and neighbors have enough food to feed their families,” he said. “We hope you will join us in our 80th celebration and bring all your family and friends to enjoy a day of mini-golfing, the amazing corn maze, and a barbecue lunch will be offered including fresh corn on the cob and homemade ice cream, with all proceeds to benefit Feed The County.”
According to the Goughans, the annual maze takes months of planning and effort.
In the spring the corn is planted in both directions so that people can’t look down the rows for a way out. After fertilizing and other normal cultivating practices throughout the season, “Farmer” Mark will cut the design into the field when the corn is about knee high. This is done by marking off the field into 550 twenty foot squares, cutting row 1, square 1, first.
The corn is now eight feet tall and “Farmer Gloria” has spent the last three weeks designing and painting the different signs needed to navigate the maze.
“Some people make it through just fine and some people simply perish,” Gloria Goughan quipped. “Next of kin need to be notified.”
She said there are five games available at different points throughout the maze, each with a Feed the County theme.
“Those who finish the maze alive and complete one of the games will win a free homemade ice cream cone. It takes 45 minutes to an hour getting through the maze, longer if you want to try and complete all five games. This year turned out to be an excellent corn growing year due to adequate heat and moisture which resulted in good plant stands and height, making the maze even more difficult,” she said.
Past themes have included the outline of a moose in 2005, following in 2006 with “Spuddy,” a tribute to the importance of the Maine Potato industry. Other themes have paid homage to art, with the depiction of the painting “American Gothic” in 2007; geography, with the outline of the state of Maine; science, featuring the solar system; higher education with the UMaine Black Bear; and then last year was a tribute to Farmer Gloria’s 60th birthday.
The Goughans hope to create “a little education with a lot of fun,” and over the years it has been successful. The couple view their maze as an agri-tourism tool by which small family farms can help market their agricultural products and allow for the public to enjoy the way of life on the farm.
Gloria and Mark Goughan, with their three daughters and family members, have been in business since 1978. The farm offers a variety of products and attractions, including fruits, vegetables, pick-your-own pumpkins, Christmas trees, 18 hole mini-golf, hayrides, an animal barn and homemade ice cream.
For more information contact Gloria or Mark Goughan at 498-6565.
