A digital rendering of what the maze at Hubbs Farm will look like once the corn and red zinnias are finished growing.
Beth Smith | Hubbs Farm
Petersons give a nod to Keith with this year’s fall design
The pattern for this year’s maze for the Hubb’s Farm Fall Festival is giving tribute to the late country music star Toby Keith.
“I love his music. I love the feel of songs and music that brings groups together,” noted Tammy Peterson, the co-owner of Hubb’s Farm as she talked about the reason the maze’s design was chosen.
She said she felt many people in Sampson County were able to relate to Keith’s music, and that was what made the design a must-do, which is why when she and husband, John, began thinking about the design for this year, Keith came to mind.
“We just throw ideas back and forth. And then we just sort of mutually, suddenly agreed that is what we really wanted to do,” Peterson recalled of the maze decision.
She explained that they gave Maze Plate, the company they work with to create the mazes, the idea of what they wanted for the maze, and then the company worked with them to make it more concrete. Peterson said they came up with three main things to put in the maze — a red cup, the likeness of Keith and Hubb’s Farm.
From there, Peterson said one of the Maze Plate employees, Chase, worked up the design and sent it back to the Petersons for approval. Once approved, another employee, Sean, came out to the farm and started planting.
And it was here that Hubb’s Farm would run into a snag in their plan for the corn maze.
“He planted it the day before the tropical storm happened, and it washed away,” Peterson recalled. “So, he had to come back and replant it. So, we are in the process of growing the maze.”
Peterson said the maze is “growing fast,” especially since they planted a hybrid sorghum. But, despite the maze’s growth, she did say due to the late planting the corn will not be mature in the first few weeks of Fall Festival, but she is hopeful the crops will continue growing fast.
“I’m sitting there thinking, ‘oh my God, please grow, please grow, please grow.’ And I really want some hot days for it to continue to grow,” Peterson asserted.
But, she was quick to point out, this is not a new worry for her.
“For 17 years I have worried every time that maze was planted (asking), ‘is it going to be OK?’ And I would ask my mama, and I’d say, ‘Mama is it going to be all right?’ Mama would say, ‘Tammy, don’t worry it’s going to be fine,’” Peterson said. “And it’s always been fine.”
She said it hasn’t been a perfect year because of the weather conditions, but she said she believes when things are not perfect they tend to work out.
Peterson said they can’t give a time estimate for how long it should take people to get through the maze, but she was able to list how many miles people would walk if they covered every inch of certain sections of the maze.
For the part of the maze that contains Toby Keith’s hat and Hubb’s Farm, the total walking distance is 1.9 miles.
The part of the maze containing the cup is around a 2.5-mile walk.
Peterson said the bottom of the maze also has areas that are .8 miles and .1 miles to walk.
All together, if someone was to walk every section of the maze, it would be around a 5-mile walk.
Another fun aspect of the maze includes having red zinnias planted for the red Solo Cup design — that is, if the weather permits.
Hubb’s Farm Fall Festival starts Sept. 21 and ends Nov. 2. During this period, Hubb’s Farm will be opened Wednesday thru Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays in September and November from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays in October from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Information about the different events offered during this time and how to purchase tickets can be found on the Hubb’s Farm website at hubbsfarmnc.com.
You can reach Alyssa Bergey at 910-249-4617. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.