CARIBOU, Maine — A Caribou farm family took inspiration from a Halloween classic for their latest fall corn maze.
Goughan’s Berry Farm is celebrating 17 years of its annual corn maze, which attracts thousands of visitors every fall. This year, the Goughans are paying tribute to the Peanuts television special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”
Corn mazes are a fall tradition in Maine and various farms around the state offer them.
Mark Goughan cut the corn in the 5-acre field into the shapes of Peanuts characters Charlie Brown, his sister Sally, best friend Linus and dog Snoopy. Linus is holding a sign that reads “Welcome Great Pumpkin,” while Snoopy is dressed as the World War I flying ace, which is his Halloween costume in the special. A zigzag pattern connects the character shapes to the rest of the maze.
The Goughans also have a 5-acre pumpkin patch, which inspired the maze’s “great pumpkin” theme.
Throughout the maze, families will complete a Peanuts-themed crossword puzzle, word scramble and fact quiz about different characters. Wooden cut-outs of Peanuts characters are scattered throughout for photo opportunities. But the biggest challenge will be finding the great pumpkin itself, Goughan said.
“If you can find the great pumpkin, you win the game and get a free ice cream,” Goughan said.
It took Goughan two weeks to cut the corn into the right character shapes and the walking paths. Then he spent another three weeks creating signs for the games and making the ground more suitable for walking.
The maze typically takes from 45 minutes to one hour to complete, Goughan said. But there’s a twist this year: the maze has only one way in and one way out.
“Don’t worry. Every Thursday we send our expert team to search for people from the week before,” Goughan said, jokingly. “We usually find at least two thirds of the people who got lost.”
Goughan said the maze has become a great way for families to spend time together and learn something new related to each theme. Past corn mazes have featured a snowmobiling moose, a tribute to Aroostook County Action Program, a 60th birthday card to Goughan’s wife Gloria and the University of Maine’s black bear mascot.
The corn maze opened last weekend and will be open every day until after Halloween.
