Suffolk News-Herald

If you’re out wandering through the corn maze at Clayhill Farm over the next few months, you might get lost. Actually, you probably will. After all, it is a maze!

But don’t panic, because there’s only a few different place you could be. There’s a possibility that you’re trapped in the cross of the &uot;C&uot; in the maze. You might be making your way across the line that runs through the middle of the letters &uot;A&uot; or &uot;H.&uot; Or, you could be stuck on one of the weaving paths that make up the last few steps of the maze.

It’s all part of a quest to find the ending. It’s a journey that farm owner and operator Edmond Morris hopes that Suffolkians of all ages take when the event opens in the last week of September.

&uot;When the corn was about knee high, we started to put flags in the ground,&uot; said Morris. &uot;Then we tilled out the areas that the maze would run through. We used a transit (surveying tool) to go from flag to flag and mark out the area.&uot; A few months later, the maze resembles the mysterious crop circles from the 2002 Mel Gibson film &uot;Signs,&uot; though it seems highly unlikely that aliens would happen to draw a maze depicting the name of the farm that houses it!

For a small fee, customers can try to find their way through. As a prize for finishing, they’ll pick up an ear of corn, small pumpkin, or one of the farm’s other crops.

&uot;The entrance is a no-brainer,&uot; Morris said, indicating the clearly-marked way to get in (later on, he plans to put fantasy-based row names like &uot;Oz Country Road,&uot; &uot;Toto Boulevard&uot; and &uot;Tin Man Alley&uot; throughout the maze). &uot;But it gets a little hairy down near the end. We’re trying to attract school classes, civic groups, and individuals.&uot;

Don’t worry – should a participant get lost, there’s always a way out – the corn is thin enough to see one’s way back out to nearby Mineral Springs Road, and out to the house that welcomes visitors to the farm.

It’s a place that Morris has spent most of the past few decades, and one that he’s finally starting to leave behind. &uot;I’ve been growing for pretty much all of my life, and I’m semi-retired,&uot; he said. &uot;I’m just hoping that this does well.&uot;

Clayhill Farm, located on Mineral Spring Road, also offers a variety of crops for sale, ranging through butterbeans, corn, crowder peas, watermelons, cantaloupes, squash, cucumbers and pumpkins. Its services also include landscaping and aiding in the beginning of a garden. Call 986-3209 for more information.