South Bend corn mazes set for fall frolic

The smell is intoxicating.

You can tell autumn is in the air, along with the smell of something delicious.

The welcoming scent of apple cider doughnuts drifts over the sprawling farm landscape, inviting visitors to Thistleberry Farm’s annual fall attractions, including corn mazes, play equipment, farm animals, pumpkin picking and other activities. Farm co-owner Dave Frushour says that this year marks 11 years of inviting the public to his family’s 40-acre farm to welcome in cooler weather and changing leaves.

New this year is an expanded play area, a “Jurassic Farm” maze theme and those enchanting homemade apple cider doughnuts, among other small changes, Frushour says.

The farm animals are also now easier for families to see, as they have been moved to a larger, more open pasture area. They have goats, chickens, ducks, steers, a donkey and rabbits, among other farm life.

That’s one of the main reasons Frushour and his family do this: to give children and families an idea of what a modern-day farm looks like.

“It’s amazing how little exposure kids have to farms,” Frushour says as he looks out onto the fields. “It seems like 20 years ago, everyone had a connection to a farm. You see it a lot with the field trip groups — many have no exposure. We get all sorts of interesting questions. Is that real corn? Kids won’t know what chickens are, or if they should be afraid of them.”

Frushour’s wife, Michelle, drives the cow train for visiting children, and says she likes to see the children smile when they visit. Many local and regional school systems book field trips to the farm.

“It makes all the hard work worth it,” she says.

Corn mazes are a uniquely American tradition, with the claim for the first contemporary corn maze going to Lebanon Valley College in central Pennsylvania after alum Don Frantz and Joanne Marx designed their winding and twisting pathway in a cornfield in September 1993. Frushour says he’s seen the popularity of his mazes grow each year; he estimates 25,000 people walked through his farm gates last year alone.

Frushour begins the maze process not long after the corn is in the ground. He picks a theme, draws the design on a computer and then cuts the path into the corn when it’s about knee-high. The corn is overhead by the time the farm opens; this year, that was Sept. 12.

This year’s theme, Jurassic Farm, hopes to bank off the popularity of “Jurassic World” and the rest of the “Jurassic Park” franchise, he says. The two mazes geared for adults should take about two hours to complete, according to the farm’s website.

The farm also offers two “Storybook Mazes,” geared for young children to tell a story while walking through the simple maze. Pages of storybooks or clues every 10 feet or so lead them through the maze, Frushour says.

Beyond the corn mazes, behind the family’s barn, is a U-pick pumpkin patch. Frushour says the pumpkins might be a bit smaller than in years past, because of weather, but there are still plenty for jack-o’-lanterns and other fall decorations. U-pick pumpkins are 35 cents per pound, and are also available pre-picked.

Michelle Frushour says that they hope to continue to expand in the coming years.

“We have lots of ideas,” she says. “It just takes time and money. Our goal is always for families to come out and enjoy their time together.”

Dave agrees.

“This is a good family activity, fun for everyone,” he says. “There doesn’t seem to be many of those these days.”