Annual corn maze brings fun to local farm’s hard work

Willow Brook Farm’s store carries beef, eggs, dairy and locally sourced goods and gifts.
Grace DeMarco
Willow Brook Farm’s store carries beef, eggs, dairy and locally sourced goods and gifts.
MILLERTON — In the second week of July, Ken Beneke sets out on his mower to create an interactive art landscape for the local community in the corn fields of his own Willow Brook Farm.
Along with carrying their own pork and beef, eggs, dairy and produce, accompanied by locally sourced goods and gifts, Willow Brook Farm is also home to an annual and cherished corn maze. “We grow everything, from zucchini and eggplant to tomatoes and potatoes,” said Casey Swift, Beneke’s girlfriend.
Despite its long-lasting success, Willow Brook Farm has not always carried all they do today. Ken Beneke is a third-generation farmer, as his grandfather, Joachim Beneke, started the farm in the 1950s, later passing it to Ken’s father Henry, and is now run by Ken.
“It has definitely grown,” Swift said. Beneke milks about 125 cows, an increase from earlier years. He also made the addition of beef cows which are kept up the road.
The farm’s corn maze has been another valuable and cherished addition to the Beneke family’s farm. The inaugural maze took place in 2019, and while they took the next year off for COVID, Swift added that, “People came and kept wanting it, we should have done it that year, but we weren’t sure what was going on.”
Since 2021, Willow Brook Farm has continued the corn maze annually. With the farm being run by Ken and three other men, Swift says it serves as Beneke’s outlet of entertainment in the midst of busy days on the farm.
“We’ve had a great turnout,” Swift said. “Kids love it, adults love it.”
Planning and creating a corn maze every year is no easy feat, however. Preparation for the maze starts in May, when Swift begins to think about the design. “We don’t give ourselves too much time because otherwise I’ll change my mind over and over again,” Swift admitted, laughing. “Its about two months of preparation.”
“Coming up with a new design every year is a challenge,” said Swift, who designs the plans for Beneke to carry out in the field. This year, Swift was joined by a local boy named Leo, who came up with this year’s barn-themed design.
Swift sketches the design onto a piece of paper and creates a graphic design before she hands it off to Beneke. “Ken’s brain works in mysterious ways. He just holds the paper while he drives his lawn mower, while most people pay to have it done on a GPS. He just does it on his own,” she said.
While creating these plans, Swift thinks of how Beneke will be able to put mower to corn. With last year’s Yankee logo design, there were curves to keep in mind. “I have to think of the curves,” she said. “It obviously works better if there are angles. So we got the curves with the angles. It just took a little time, but he’s just super creative in getting it done.”
After the plan is put in place, Beneke will mow the corn about three times during the preparation season to keep it from growing back, the first of which he began on a sunny Thursday, July 10.
Usually, the maze is ready around the last week of August, when people begin to ask and anticipate its arrival. Customers will be able to come in, pay and walk across the street to complete the maze on their own, given a map to follow, courtesy of Beneke’s friend who provides aerial drone images.
Although opening day to the maze is busy, Swift said that the farm “doesn’t do any grand opening or anything. It is mostly word of mouth, and we haven’t had to advertise yet, which is fantastic. People know we’re going to be here.”
The corn maze has become an important event for not only its customers, but its proprietors as well. “The corn maze is very important to Ken,” said Swift. “He has always wanted to do it since he was young.” It is what keeps the pair excited to create the maze every year.
After last year, Beneke has also been eager to provide a second haunted corn maze on Halloween weekend, which will be put into action by Beneke’s son and Swift’s daughter along with friends. With the previous years being successful, Willow Brook Farm hopes to attract more customers to the haunted maze through advertisements.
For all eager to navigate this year’s Willow Brook Farm Corn Maze, it will be open Thursday through Monday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from late August until the field is mowed after Halloween. It will also be open for groups by appointment. Prices are $12 for adults and $8 for children. Willow Brook Farm is located at 196 Old Post Road off of Route 22 just north of the Village of Millerton.
AMENIA — Sidewalk construction that will extend the town sidewalk to Beekman Park got underway this week along Route 44.
On Wednesday, August 20, the crew was checking excavation lines.
Work is expected to continue for the next three to four weeks. Residents should anticipate minor traffic delays.
Sidewalk construction that will extend the town sidewalk to Beekman Park got underway this week along Route 44. On Wednesday, August 20, excavation began. Project Manager Don D. was at the controls of the excavation equipment.Photo by Leila Hawken
In light of rising local interest in the centuries-old game of Backgammon, Wednesday afternoon backgammon instruction and play sessions are being offered at The Hotchkiss Library of Sharon. The first such session was held on Wednesday, Aug. 13, attracting two enthusiastic participants, both of whom resolved to return for the weekly sessions.
Expert player and instructor Roger Lourie of Sharon, along with his equally expert wife, Claude, led the session, jumping right into the action of playing the game. Claude chose to pair with Janet Kaufman of Salisbury, a moderately experienced player looking to improve her skills, while Lourie teamed himself with Pam Jarvis of Sharon, who was new to the game.
In 2023, Lourie formed Backgammon of Northwestern Connecticut with two objectives: to promote the game in the northwest corner of the state and to teach it to children and adults interested in learning. In addition to the Wednesday sessions at The Hotchkiss Library, an informal, casual group meets at Le Gamin in Sharon every Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to noon.
Acting as co-chairman is Ed Corey who leads the Le Gamin sessions, offering advice and instruction. Both Corey and Lourie play competitively and have distinguished themselves by winning tournaments. There are no fees for participation at either Hotchkiss or Le Gamin. Children, ages 8 and up, are welcome to come and learn the game, along with adults of any experience level.
Lourie says that he can teach a person to play competitively in three lessons.
Sessions at The Hotchkiss Library will continue until the end of the year and perhaps beyond, depending on interest. Lourie will be the instructor until mid-November, when expert player Ed Corey will assume responsibility for the sessions at the Hotchkiss Library.
“We’re hoping for more people and also to see youngsters participating and learning the game,” Lourie said.
“The beginner can be the expert with the right dice,” said Lourie, explaining that it is a game combining chance and strategy. An understanding of mathematics and probability can be helpful.
Lourie summarized the randomness of dice and the strategy of poker. “I want to know the proper etiquette,” Kaufman offered, intent on knowing more about the proper moves, although her play indicated a credible level of skill.
Stopping in to observe the Hotchkiss session, executive director of the library, Gretchen Hachmeister said, “We know that people come to library game sessions. People love games, getting together to learn something new.”
Lourie learned the game under extremely unusual circumstances — as a detainee in a Soviet prison during the1960s missile crisis, while working in Naval Engineering to decipher code for the U.S. Office of Technological Security.
Imprisonment was not terrible, he said. There was predictable questioning by day when he repeated daily the details of his cover story. But at night, the guards — many the same age as the detainees — had finished their shifts and of interrogation.They unplugged the cameras to brew tea and the backgammon games would begin. That was how Lourie learned the game and became an expert.
Board games date back 5,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia. Modern backgammon goes back to 17th-century England, having evolved from a 16th-century game called “Irish.”It grew in popularity in the 1960s, leading to formation of a World Backgammon Club in Manhattan. And then in 2023, Backgammon of Northwestern Connecticut came to be.
To learn more about the Backgammon sessions at The Hotchkiss Library, visit: www.hotchkisslibraryofsharon.org or contact Lourie directly at Rlourie@gmail.com.
Pantry essentials at Dugazon
You are invited to celebrate the opening of Dugazon, a home and lifestyle shop located in a clapboard cottage at 19 West Main Street, the former site of The Edward in Sharon. The opening is Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 11 a.m.
After careers in the world of fashion, Salisbury residents Bobby Graham and his husband, Matt Marden, have curated a collection of beautiful items that reflect their sense of design, love of hospitality, and Graham’s deep Southern roots. Dugazon is his maternal family name.
“My Louisiana roots come from my mother’s family in Baton Rouge via New Orleans where many of my memories of cooking, food, antiquing, flea markets, hospitality, entertaining, originate,” Graham said.“Being raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, enhanced the importance of community, family, friends and regional cultures, forming the essence of Dugazon.”
Graham and Marden sat on the front porch telling the story of their shop’s evolution. With its wicker loveseats and geraniums in bloom, the old porch invites visitors to linger.
Matt Marden and Bobby Graham open Dugazonat 19 West Main St.in Sharon on Aug 27. Jennifer Almquist
“Bobby has been talking about Dugazon ever since our first date 21 years ago,” Marden said smiling. “I could not be more thrilled that his dream has finally become our reality.”
Graham laughed, then shared their hope that Dugazon embodies the spirit of lagniappe, a French concept of “adding a little extra to bring unexpected kindness, generosity and delight into everyday life.”
Marden worked at Staley-Wise Gallery in New York City. “Town & Country” recruited him to cover men’s fashion. He became fashion director of “Details” magazine and later style director for “Esquire” magazine.
Graham spent 24 years at Condé Nast as a Fashion and luxury advertising sales executive for “Vogue,” “GQ,” “Vanity Fair,” “AD,” and “The New Yorker.”
Within their light-filled shop, unique antiques and vintage cookbooks mix with kitchen necessities such as wooden spoons and cutting boards. Dugazon is bursting with elegant and functional items ranging from designer John Derian treasures to Louisiana hot sauce, luxurious table linens from Milan-based La Double J, and pantry essentials including Café Du Monde beignet mix, Mam Papaul’s jambalaya fixings, and various jams.
Scandinavian 19-inch tapered candles from creators ester & erik are available in 30 colors. Other offerings include vivid naïve paintings by New Orleans-born artist Alvin Batiste, who now works out of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and paper goods designed by Marden’s first cousin, Carey Marden Shaulus.
Alvin Batiste paintings and ester& erik candles on display at Dugazon.Jeff Holt
“Dugazon becoming a reality has been a lifelong dream that comes from deep in my creative soul,” Graham said.“My experiences and memories from my roots, family and friends is what Dugazon is all about. Being able to share this with the world means everything to us.”
Dugazon opens Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 11 a.m.and will be open Wednesdays through Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Phone: 860-397-5196
Instagram:@dugazonshop
Website:www.dugazonshop.com