Vegreville Corn Maze Grew Success for Non-Profits

Vegreville Corn Maze Grew Success for Non-Profits

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

Vegreville Second Annual Corn Maze was offered every weekend from September 25 to October 10 at the grounds of Vegreville Regional Museum.

A total of 5,000 people visited the Vegreville Corn Maze over the course of five weekends from Sept. 25 to Oct. 10.

This event was held on the grounds of the Vegreville Regional Museum and featured a double dose of joy for people of all ages with a variety of activities and entertainment. Approximately, $20,000 was raised for non-profit organizations in the community.

Each weekend had a theme to it. The final weekend on October 9 and 10 featured a Medieval Madness theme.

Anya Langkow, Tourism, Recreation and Culture Coordinator for the Town of Vegreville, said the corn maze has been such a success over the last two years as people have been limited in what they could do due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This event provided the space and the atmosphere for people to feel connected and safe as they were so spread out. It was also so picturesque out there; even before we added in the decorations and other features. The museum grounds with the trees changing colours and the antique equipment around added something special to it. Then you add in the fact that people knew that all the proceeds will go to support the community non-profits and people liked that the event gave people such a sense of community.

All the funds from the ticket sales go back to the non-profit organizations and groups who helped facilitate the operations of the corn maze. Also, non-profits came in and ran concessions which they will get the profit from or they will forward the proceeds from this to a charity of their choice. This is wonderful because many of them haven’t had any alternative fundraising opportunities for two years now.

The highlight was talking to one family who flew in from Cold Lake for the event. They had a private plane and usually take a fall flight to look at the foliage.

I think the best part of the corn maze for the committee would be community; feeling like we were supporting the community, raising community spirit and heightening the profile of our community. I think we are really gaining a reputation as a regional tourism destination in the fall season.

We plan to have the corn maze next year regardless whether COVID-19 is around or not. We have proven in the last two years that we can make it work regardless of what’s going on in the world and how high the corn grows. We will continue to build on the success we had.

Overall, the corn maze went excellent. We were blessed with some really great weather. Families attended because they were looking forward to spending time together safely and get outside, and have fun.”