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Images and words by Jakeup Rios
This year the La Union Maze, located right off Highway 28 in La Union, NM, enters its eighth year of operation. The La Union Maze is now bigger and better than ever, offering a bigger maze, more attractions, and of course, delicious food.
The land belongs to T&S Growers, a local farming, and the maze itself is owned and operated by the T&S family, Joel and Yolanda Tellez and Lucy and Robert Sondgeroth. Yolanda Tellez says one of the advantages to having a family-owned business is the cohesiveness. “We’re working together with the same common goal of providing a family-friendly environment to the public.”
The La Union Maze, which was originally made from corn stalks, has received a boost from Mother Nature. This year’s increase in rainfall has sent the sorghum stalks shooting up to about 15-feet. This means a bigger, more challenging maze.
The sorghum is not the only thing seeing an increase, the Maze is seeing an all-around attendance boom, with over 35,000 people taking the Maze Challenge last year. The Maze hopes to reach an attendance goal of 45,000 this year and Tellez said “It looks really good. In our second week of operation we’ve already seen about 4,500 people go through the maze.”
Tellez said they are seeing large groups of college students. About 20-percent of all maze-goers are students from both NMSU and UTEP. Still, she would like to see more Aggies at the maze; Lucy Sondgeroth agrees and says that, “Friday nights are always a popular night for young adults.”
The Maze offers many attractions, like a Rabbit Pen where kids and adults can go in and pet and feed the furry creatures. Customers can also enjoy watching the goats climb up wooden planks that are located inside their corral. The goats are also spectators, often watching the customers snap pictures of them.
A new attraction this year is the Cow Train, barrels that have been hollowed out and painted with black and white spots. The carts are then attached to a tractor and hauled around the outer side of the maze, through the beautiful La Union countryside.
The Maze Trolley is back this year, offering scenic tours for the whole family. Customers can even pick their own flowers or pumpkins. Another popular attraction is the Peddle Karts, where kids can race around a track in carts they peddle with their feet.
The Maze is also well-known for something other than fun, they are known for their delicious food. The crowd-pleaser is of course the roasted corn. The aroma of corn roasting fills the air and customers line in the dozens to get their hands on a cob. The Maze boasts an impressive collection of spices to sprinkle on your corn such as Lemon Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, and Paprika.
Ice cold sodas, waters, and Gatorades are also offered, as well as fresh watermelon, snow cones and churros.
As far as safety the Maze contracts about five off-duty law-enforcement officers to patrol the grounds, while Maze employees known as “Corn Cops” station themselves throughout the maze to offer assistance to lost customers.
Tellez says instead of sitting in an expensive two-hour movie stop over at the Maze. “The Maze provides a healthy, entertaining and fun activity, not just for a particular age group, but instead for the whole family.”
The Maze prices are $8.00 for ages six and over and children five and under are free. The Maze does accept credit cards and will remain open until November 5. Normal business hours are Friday 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Sunday 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. For more information visit launionmaze.com.
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