The Friday afternoon crowd may have comprised mostly school tours, but come Saturday, County Line Orchard employees are bracing themselves for crowds to descend on its slam dunk of all attractions.
Attention toward the orchard’s Caitlin Clark corn maze, which opened for meandering August 31, has started to exponentially pick up steam on social media after a Chicago TV station came out to see it Wednesday, Orchard employee Alissa Jacobs said. When that happens, she and co-workers know the already crazy-busy weekend rush is likely going to be that much busier.
So far, people who’ve gone through it said it’s cool, especially if you stay out of the Indiana Fever rookie sensation’s hair.
“I haven’t been in there yet, but people have been having trouble getting lost in her hair,” employee Jordan Grant said.
The orchard has done sports-themed mazes in the past — the Bears and the Blackhawks come to mind — but having a maze dedicated to one of the greatest women basketball players to play the game came from a group of little girls. Dana More, chief operating officer for County Line owner Luke Family of Brands, said she was watching the WNBA draft with nieces Maddie, 8; and twins Stella and Lilly, 10 when the Indiana Fever snagged Clark after a storied career at the University of Iowa.
They immediately went online to buy her jersey for themselves, More said, but then the girls came up with the idea of honoring their new favorite player with maze. More took the idea to CEO Tom Collins, and that was it.
“He said, ‘I’m in! I love it,’ so we formalized the plan,” More said.
Creating a corn maze probably isn’t what most people think; instead of cutting down the corn to fit a pattern, Luke’s marketing team came up with the design and then handed it over to a company who converted the design into a pattern to lay down on the maze area, More said. The farmers then plant the corn around the pattern, and it grows into it, she said.
Since word got out about the maze, More has continued to be her nieces’ absolute queen. The Fever reached out to her and gave them tickets to a game recently, she said, and their idol personally signed their jerseys, she said.
The basketball powerhouse even told them she’s going to try to get up there to do the maze herself, More said, though they understand Clark has a tight schedule for the next few months. The WNBA regular season ends Sept. 19, but the Fever have had a stellar second half of the season so they will be in the playoff mix, starting Sept. 22.
If she makes a trip to Hobart, though, it’ll be the best thing ever.
“That’ll make me aunt of the year, of the decade, of the century, even,” More said proudly.
Growing up in Iowa, Clark said at a recent press conference that she was very familiar with corn mazes. They’re not for the directionally challenged, but with an honor like that, she will gladly take one for the team.
“If you’ve never done one, like it’s very easy to get lost in there. Kinda scary if you’re not with people,” Clark said. “I guess if I have time after the season ends, maybe hopefully I can get there.”
Grant, who’s worked for County Line for nine years, said it all depends on your objective going in. If you have kids who you don’t want dawdling, you can make it in 20 minutes, but they typically tell people 40 minutes to an hour for the full effect. And it’s not easy either way.
“It’s scary because all you can see is the sky and corn,” Grant said. “At least you know you have one option out.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
