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Corn mazes pay tribute to Miami's 200th anniversary

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Staff Report Updated 11:20 AM Wednesday, September 30, 2009

OXFORD – Two local corn mazes open to the public this fall are paying tribute to Miami University’s 200th anniversary, with one in the shape of the school’s RedHawk mascot and the other of Miami’s bicentennial logo.

Xiaolei Mao, a master’s student in computational science and engineering, and Tom Burg, a senior engineering management and manufacturing engineering major from Chagrin Falls, used a GPS-guided lawn mower to cut the RedHawk profile out of a cornfield at Butterfield Farm Market, which is about 10 minutes east of Oxford on Ohio 73.

Burg and a team of graduate and undergraduate students in Miami’s School of Engineering and Applied Science designed the bicentennial-themed art during a class competition set up by Yu Tong (Jade) Morton, professor of electrical and computer engineering, in her Introduction to GPS course last spring.

The other maze – of the bicentennial logo – is at Highland View Farm on Stillwell-Beckett Road. The farm belongs to Marian Brosius, the mother of Leslie Krehbiel, who earned a master’s degree at Miami in 1981 in elementary education.

Krehbiel said this is the second year for Midge’s Maze, named after her mom as a tribute to her for keeping the family farm running. The farm has been in the family since 1834.

The logo design, created using a grid system, required two days to place flags throughout the field and two days to cut the corn with a lawn mower, followed by recutting every four days for two weeks.

The RedHawk maze at Butterfield Farm Market, 4000 Oxford Trenton Road (Ohio 73), is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Oct. 31. The cost is $5. Private parties may rent the maze in the evenings. For more information, call the farm at (513) 524-2676 or go to www.butterfieldfarmmarket.com.

Midge’s Maze is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 31. Cost is $5, children under three are free. Highland View Farm is at 2450 Stillwell Beckett Road, Hamilton. For details, go to www.home.fuse.net/midgesmaze or call 513-561-6209 or 513-207-2370.

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