York County’s Own Maize Quest Designed The Field Of Dreams Maze In Secret For Major League Baseball’s New Stadium Debut
Hugh McPherson
Photo credit MLB.com
New Park, PA – (Aug 2021) It was an unexpected call that started the two-year story leading up to Maize Quest’s contract to design and cut the “Field of Dreams Corn Maze” for Major League Baseball in Dyersville, IA. The corn maze depicting the MLB logo made its public debut with the historic opening game on Thursday night between the White Sox & the Yankees. The project was delayed by COVID for a year, but the connection, through Baam Productions, continued in secrecy to allow for the dramatic reveal in 2021.
“We didn’t know what to expect, but we’ve been designing and cutting corn mazes now for 25 years, so we figured we could do it,” says Hugh McPherson, the Mazemaster at Maize Quest. “Once we said ‘Yes’, then the design, proofing and approval process really began.”
Maize Quest, founded by Hugh McPherson on his family’s Maple Lawn Farms in Fawn Township York County, has been ‘losing guests’ in the cornfield since 1997. In 1999, fellow farmers started calling for help creating corn maze attractions at their own farms. The corn maze design business grew to help over 80 farms annually across America, Canada and even the UK.
“Each design is custom made for the field and theming requested by the farmer,” says Michelle Posey, the Maize Quest “Catalyst” for helping other farms. “The only limit is their imagination, so helping the baseball league was to us, just making sure another client was happy with the living maze artwork.”
In 2000, Maize Quest added Designer Dave Phillips and his company A-Mazed to add professional artwork, characters, 3-D signs and more to each farm’s maze attraction package. Tim Day of Shenandoah, VA travels with GPS Unit, tractor and family to each location to cut the maze through the living cornstalks.
“It was great to see all the players very specifically go into the maze for some fun and relaxation before the game,” said Ray Salverda, project manager at BaAM productions who oversaw the Field of Dreams project. “It has been a real pleasure to work with Maize Quest and I am so happy we got [the maze] in this year.”
Over the years, Maize Quest cut logos for Dodge, Coca-Cola, NFL, NBA and college football teams, all licensed locally through partnerships with local farms. Each carefully approved before a single stalk is cut.
“It is a great moment when one of our local farmer clients can work successfully with a major brand or organization bringing guests to the farm and positive impact to the brand,” says McPherson. “It was a honor to be entrusted with this MLB project. It really was a “Field of Dreams” for our team, too.”
Maple Lawn Farms is currently open for peach & apple picking, with the home farm’s corn maze set to open Saturday, September 4, 2021. This year’s maze features the Maize Quest Corn Characters and a theme titled “Secrets of the Maze” for the 25th anniversary of the Fall family attraction.
Maize Quest has designed well over 100 NAFDMA member corn mazes over the past 23 years.
For more information on Maize Quest’s Corn Maze & Fun Park at the home farm visit www.MazeFunPark.com.
