From Amanda Mochan in Idaho, USA
On Saturday, October 1, I was in Rupert, Idaho for a record
attempt for the largest temporary straw bale maze. The maze
(coined the Mega Maze) is located at Garden Cents, a fully-stocked
shop for planting and nursery needs.
As this was a new record category, our records management team did
some research and set the minimum requirements at 1,200 square
meters (12,916.7 square feet). Bryan Jentzsch, who created
and the construction, designed it to be quite a bit bigger than the
requirements, although it had to be measured in order to be made
official.
Before measuring the maze on-site, I reviewed the maze plans to see
what sections would count towards the record total. According
to Guinness World Records guidelines, the maze must be continuous
(i.e. empty spaces such as parking lots do not count), and had to
have walls that adults were not able to see over.
The majority of the maze fell under these guidelines, although
the kiddie maze (with 3-ft. high walls) and the entranceway with
go-karts, a bean pit, and bouncy horses weren't included in the
measurements. In addition to the standard maze pathways, the
MEGA MAZE boasted some unique features, including a straw bale
pyramid with interior pathways that reached several stories high,
and a 3D maze with paths built on several levels, one on top of the
other.
Once I confirmed which sections would count towards the official
total, I walked the sections with a measuring wheel, and the final
area was an impressive 96,847 square feet (8,997.380 square meters)
- approximately eight times the size of the minimum requirement,
and a new Guinness World Records achievement!
Some additional statistics and
figures:
- The maze used 3,202 bales of straw, with each bale weighing an
approximate 1,100 lbs.
- The maze features 1.6 miles of pathway, both on the ground and in
the elevated 3D section
- Bryan Jentzsch constructed the majority of the maze by himself
using front-end loaders with forks on front. It took two
weeks to design and three weeks to construct.
- This is the third year a maze has been constructed on the site,
but this year was by far the biggest (last year's maze consisted of
2,000 straw bales).
- After the maze is dismantled, the straw will go to local dairies
to be used as bedding for dairy cows.
If you find yourself in southern Idaho this month, be sure to stop
by and check it out - the maze is open daily and on October 14 it
transforms into the Haunted Maze, a spooky experience featuring
zombies, a mad scientist, witches, trolls, scary clowns, and much,
much more.
For more information visit www.gardencents.com.
