TENNESSEE, USA — Just like any fall season, families are taking advantage of pumpkin patches, hay rides and corn mazes to celebrate.
In East Tennessee, some of those farms with corn mazes are using their crop for a good cause.
In Lenoir City, Deep Well Farm's corn maze is buzzing. As the owner, VW Linginfelter always looks for an education aspect.
"Looking at designs, we change the designs every year, and it just so happened one of them was about bees," Linginfelter said.
The design is meant to bring an important topic to kids' attention.
"Bees are important yes, but any time you can help educate a child in the right way, that's what it's all about," Linginfelter explained.
It seems like it's working too. At least if you ask the kids on the hay ride, like elementary school-aged Wyatt.
"Bees hurt a little, a lot lot like a little more than wasps," Wyatt smiled."I learned this too: they make honey for us."
Even the pumpkin patch has a tie in.
"Right now, we are hiring people that have bees to come in and set hives in our pumpkin patch," Linginfelter said. "Because if we didn't have them, we wouldn't have pumpkins."
From buzzing bees in Lenoir City to hands free in Sevier County, the designs in these corn mazes aren't just for fun. They educate too.
Randy Kyker owns Kyker Farms Corn Maze in Sevierville. This year, the family farm chose to take a different design approach.
"It's always been maybe a barnyard," Kyker noted. "It's always been farm themed until this year, and we just lost our mind."
When the family chose the design for the scavenger hunt corn maze, they wanted to send a message.
"The 'Hands Free Tennessee' took place in July, so we kind of thought maybe we'll do something a little different and that's what we decided to do this year," Kyker explained.
It's not your typical fall outline, but this family felt the reminder was important.
"So we're hands free at Kyker farms just to try and get the word out a little bit to help TDOT," Kyker admitted.
No matter where you're getting lost, you'll lose count of how much fun a corn maze for a cause can be.
"A hundred billion and 904 thousand hundred fun," Wyatt rambled off.
Both Deep Well Farm and Kyker Farms are open for the fall season. Both have a variety of fun, fall activities suitable for families.