Sunflower maze, fun for all

The Sunflower Maze
in Socorro in is full bloom
and ready for autumn fun.
To make the most of the
bloom, Pam McGroarty and
Tom Delehanty prepared
and opened the maze earlier
this year. This is their second season hosting the maze
and they have doubled the
size of the maze from two
to four acres.
“We made it bigger and,
hopefully, more difficult
for the kids than last year,”
said McGroarty.
The first year, the duo
relied on a hand measured
map and drew a plan from
that. The sunflowers were
extra tall that year, so they
had to put flags on poles to
help Delehanty eyeball the
maze on his tractor. This
year they decided to try a
new method.
“We don’t have a lot of
technology, we don’t use
drones or anything” said
McGroarty, but they measured it off using Google
maps and decided to do
more free hand curves and
circles instead of trying to
get right angles with the
tractor. The effect creates
confusing paths of twists
and turns, that is especially
challenging for the shorter
participants.
This year they are introducing Full Moon Fright
Nights with a spooky twist
on Sept. 29 and Sept 30.
Then starting on Friday
Oct. 13, they will have the
Fright Nights on Fridays
and Saturdays through the
end of the month. They
are looking for volunteers
on those nights to help
increase the horror by
dressing up and jumping
out at participants.
Through Oct. 29, the
Sunflower Maze will offer
hayrides, photo ops and
music. Pumpkins will be
available when in season.
The Sunflower Maze is
a labor of love, organized
by volunteers. Half of the
proceeds go to the Farmers’
Market and the rest goes to
material, labor and maintenance. For updated information, please visit their
Facebook page, Socorro
Sunflower Maze.