We all do our part to support the Buffalo Bills. From participating in boat parades to wearing our favorite Bills gear. There are those, however, that take their love of Buffalo football to an entirely different level. A monstrous level, in fact!
For 25 years, Melanie Wickham (co-owner of Pick’n Patch in Stanley, NY) and her family have been designing and building corn mazes. It all started when her sons decided that they wanted to do something fun and creative on the farm. Throughout the years, the mazes have become bigger (from 3 acres to 8 acres) and more elaborate. In 2022, as a way to celebrate 30 years in business, the Wickhams decided to pay tribute to their beloved Buffalo Bills football team.
“We’re near Geneva,” said Melanie, who was busy making donuts when I spoke with her on the phone. “There’s a huge Buffalo Bills fanbase here. Our family loves the Bills. Each year we choose a design by committee. This year, it was unanimous – Josh Allen and The Bills. We know that we’re going to the Super Bowl, and we wanted to show our support. Every year, we try to partner with a special cause or organization. This year, we called the The Patricia Allen Fund to partner with us. They said yes, and have been so supportive and gracious. It seemed like such a good fit – it’s our way of giving back to the community.”
When I asked Melanie how they designed and built the maze, she answered that it was a trade secret. “We do it all by hand [joking]. We make sure to put in a lot of trails and dead ends. The whole walk is close to three miles. We also issue passports, with ten questions that correlate to numbers throughout the maze. If someone answers a question correctly, they get sent in the correct direction (for people that want some assistance).”
I asked Melanie if she had a memorable story about her maze experiences. She responded,” We do two night mazes a year, with outdoor movies. One year, a guy dressed as a Sheriff showed up. I thought it was a gag costume. He told me that he was there because someone had called his department (a distress call) saying that she was lost in the maze [laughing]. I thought that he was joking, but he wasn’t. We have our own ‘Corn Cops’ that flush out the maze at the end, so that this doesn’t happen… we found her of course!”
For anyone that wants to go experience the Josh Allen corn maze, they have until October 30 – it’s open every day except Tuesdays (from 1am-6pm | Last folks enter at 5pm). After that, a local farmer comes by with his combine and mows this “field of dreams” into cattle feed.
When you visit Pick’n Patch, there are all sorts of other activities and adventures to participate in, including a low ropes course, apple cannons, radar for apple throwing, targets, jumping pillows, giant slides, a train, a climbing tower, bubbles, duck races, tricycle Grand Prix, and barnyard animals. Oh, and pumpkins…
“Our stock and trade is as pumpkin farmers,” said Melanie. “And our famous donuts of course!”
Pick’n Patch | 2205 RT-5 Stanley, NY 14561 | (585) 526-6518 | Instagram
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