Dear Schoolteacher,

     Greetings from “The River Maze”.  Believe it or not, it will soon be fall.   We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to visit our “Classroom in the Corn” at our farm in Ocoee, Tennessee. We want to provide a unique, educational, and fun filled experience for you and your students should you choose to visit “The River Maze” for a fall field trip.

     The theme for this year’s corn maze will be “Tennessee, Rivers Flow, and Champions Grow!”  It is a tribute to the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball coach, Pat Summitt.  It has a caricature of her face in the maze.  Our activities for the corn maze will center on the character values that Coach Summitt teaches in her book, “Reaching for the Summitt”.  She has detailed 12 principles of success which she calls “The Definite Dozen”.  Groups may also have the option of choosing an educational session based on “Corn, An Amazing Grain” or “The History of the Ocoee River.”   They will carry a “passport' related to their educational activity which contains multiple choice questions. Answer the questions correctly and find the correct path through the maze. We could also customize the educational activity to coordinate with what you are studying in the class room.

     We have designed a soybean maze around the theme, “Farming around the World”.  The soybean maze is designed as a giant basketball court.  Students will go to spots on the court corresponding to the spots in the basketball playground game of “Around the World”. The students go to these spots and find questions posted.  If they answer the question correctly, they score a point and get the chance to shoot a mini basketball at a mini hoop at that position on the court.   The questions are about farm animals and countries around the world.  There are two levels of questions to that students may choose according to their age as which question to answer.  Soybeans grow only three feet tall, so this would not be as stressful as the corn maze. We also have a “No Right Turn” maze that is a lot of fun.

     We will have a display of baby calves, sheep and goats. We have a goat walk. You can feed the goats from a machine that dispenses feed and the goats will climb to the top of the platform so that they can eat the grain. It is neat.  You can try your hand at milking “Sparkie”, our make believe cow.  She doesn’t kick!

   We offer hayrides with great views of our scenic Ocoee valley. We have a walkway by the river. We grow pumpkins, (provided that the weather cooperates).  We provide a place for picnic lunches. You bring your own. We will have a concession stand that will have water, soft drinks, and snacks for purchase. You might want to inquire about the possibility of a weenie roast down by the river!  We also have some other activities available should you have sufficient time.       We hope that you will come and see us. To find information on planning a trip to our farm,you can call us or look at our website, www.therivermaze.com.  It should provide additional information and calendar updates. Don’t forget your camera!

 We look forward to seeing you for “Fall Country Fun” at The River Maze.

Sincerely,

Joe and Dianne Fetzer