As summer winds down, Dussel Farm is already looking ahead to fall.
For the owners of the Portage County farm, preparing for fall means rebranding its activities. The farm will be carving paths through acres of corn, painting straw bales for photo opportunities and getting ready for families to make their way through the annual corn maze.
The maze will return as part of Dussel Farm’s Fall Pumpkin Festival this year, with a theme celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States.
“It is a lot of fun to go through,” said Linda Dussel, one of the farm’s owners. “If you’ve not been through one, it’s like, ‘Oh my golly, this is huge.’”
At about six acres, Dussel Farm’s maze is relatively small; Dussel said some mazes can stretch across 10 or even 12 acres. The farm’s maze takes visitors roughly 20 minutes to walk through, making it a manageable, family-friendly activity.
The main maze is designed for visitors of all ages. But for younger children who might find the towering corn intimidating, Dussel Farm also creates a much smaller children’s maze.
“It just takes 30 seconds when they run,” Dussel said.
The corn maze is only one part of the farm’s annual Fall Pumpkin Festival. Visitors can also find caramel apples, face painting and kettle corn, which is prepared by a local family. The farm also brings its pumpkins out of the field and into the farm’s yard, where visitors can choose from a large selection. Some pumpkins are displayed inside a tent so visitors can still browse in rainy weather.
As another activity, Dussel Farm also has painted straw bales and has several areas set up for
photographs.
The preparations are a yearly undertaking for the farm. Dussel said the goal is always to have everything ready early, although getting completely set up on schedule can be a challenge.
“We say we’re going to get ready early, and so far it’s not worked,” she said.
Still, by the time fall arrives, Dussel said the maze will be ready for visitors.
The farm officially plans to open the festival around the final weekend of September, though the corn maze may be accessible earlier in the month as preparations are completed. It will remain open for several weeks, including Halloween weekend.
While haunted attractions often take center stage during the Halloween season, Dussel
Farm’s maze offers a different kind of fall experience. It’s one centered on families, farm life
and a simple challenge.
The farm previously included a haunted bus attraction, but Dussel said the bus burned down several years ago, along with a small barn. It has not yet been replaced.
Even without the haunted bus, the corn maze remains one of the farm’s main fall attractions. And that final weekend is especially popular with visitors.
“Everybody’s got their pumpkins by them, but they still want to do the corn maze,” Dussel said.
At another Portage County farm, the preparation for fall begins months before visitors arrive. Guyette Farms owner Larry Guyette starts working on the corn maze soon after the corn is planted in the spring.
Guyette, who has run the farm since 1994, lays out the maze by hand each year and mows the paths with a lawnmower. His wife draws a new design for the maze annually and, once the corn begins growing, Guyette marks the design in the field.
“We mark it out in the field, and then I get to mow it a few times throughout the year until we open,” he said.
Unlike some attractions that rely on a large staff to prepare for the season, Guyette Farms remains mostly within the family.
“We're pretty much a family-run business,” Guyette said. “Just we do hire a few kids when we actually open, but for the most part, it's just the family here that runs it. My wife and I and my kids.”
For Guyette, the fall attractions are an extension of the farm itself. He is the third generation of his family to run the farm, which remains a fully functioning farm and his full-time livelihood. The farm also hosts educational field trips during the week for daycares, preschools and school-age children. During the trips, Guyette and his wife teach children about the farm, help them make feed for the animals and take them on a hayride. Each child also gets a pumpkin.
Guyette Farms opens its corn maze and other fall activities Sept. 19 and remains open through Oct. 31. Guyette said the first few weekends tend to be slower, with October weekends typically bringing the largest crowds.
Beyond the corn maze, Guyette Farms offers a pumpkin patch where visitors can pick their own pumpkins, a petting zoo where they can feed the animals, an obstacle course made from round hay bales, slides, a corn box and a corn launcher that allows visitors to launch corn at a target.