GALLATIN VALLEY — This year has obviously been different than any other. But what's becoming clear is people want a sense of normalcy back — even if it’s something simple, like going through a corn maze.
“We’re at the Montana Corn Maze,” explained Rose Brouwer, the owner of Montana Corn Maze.
And just like everything else the pandemic has forced her to adapt.
“We had to change a lot of things. We have a lot of things that aren’t open. We’ve had to limit the number of people per hour. But actually, it’s been going very well,” Brouwer said.
Despite the adjustments, the Corn Maze is still operating and trying to give people something to do while a lot of things are being canceled.
“We’ve had several people thank us for working through this, to be open, because they all say we need to be out with our kids, so they’re very grateful that it’s open,” she said.
But unfortunately, opening wasn’t the case for all festivities in the valley.
This year the Bozeman Maze decided not to open. It was on East Valley Road, but it's not in operation for the 2020 fall season.
“We decided not to open the maze this year because we just couldn’t justify putting in the huge amount of effort it takes to build and the huge amount of money that we have to invest to open every year when we weren’t 100 percent sure that we could stay open through the season,” explained Dale Mandeville, the owner of Bozeman Maze.
It was a tough decision for this owner, especially knowing everything else that’s been lost.
“We know it’s a hit to not have another event this year. One more event that’s been canceled, and we know it’s a hit to the community. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens with the next year,” Mandeville said.
The Montana Corn Maze will be open until Oct. 31. It has had to limit registrations to solely online and limit the number of participants due to recommendations from the Gallatin City-County Health Department.
For more information or to register, visit here.
