Owner of Treworgy Family Orchards talks inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh maze

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - Wednesday was National Winnie the Pooh Day. It’s celebrated each year on Jan. 18 in honor of author A.A. Milne’s birthday.

But this past year, a celebration of the beloved character went on for months in Levant.

“We were thinking: what could we do? And someone had read the news that Winnie-the-Pooh’s original book had entered the public domain. And we said, ‘Well maybe we could do something with that,’” said Jonathan Kenerson, owner, Treworgy Family Orchards.

The corn maze at Treworgy Family Orchards in Levant is a tradition more than 20 years running.

2022′s tribute to Winnie-the-Pooh was the sweetest of them all.

“Oh, it was our busiest year. I mean, we just keep growing, but it was the busiest year we’ve ever had. More people going through the maze than ever before. It was wonderful to see so many people out there enjoying the maze and the games within,” said Kenerson.

Kenerson estimates the number of visitors to the maze was in the tens of thousands. Some national attention, courtesy of a first-place finish in USA Today’s Readers Choice Awards for corn mazes in the country, helped drive even more traffic to Treworgys.

“One couple drove from Burlington, Vermont just to come to the maze because they heard it was Winnie-the-Pooh and they were big fans. They drove whatever that is, five hours, just to come to the maze. I’m sure there were more people like that!” said Kenerson.

Treworgy’s is taking the month of January off to reset after a busy fall. But they’re already starting to plan for warmer days ahead, and the maze’s expected July 2023 re-opening.

“I’m not gonna give too much away but we are leaning towards recycling an idea. We’ve gone 20 years now doing mazes. So, we have a lot that we’ve done already and we’re thinking of sticking with one of the themes that we’ve done before and just kind of repackaging it and doing something old but new. So that’s our idea. That’s as much as I’m gonna say at this point,” said Kenerson.

Treworgy Family Orchards will open for the season with ice cream and goat cuddling in May.

Up first, though, farm camp registration begins March 1. Kenerson says that fills up quickly.

Stay tuned to their Facebook page for more.

Copyright 2023 WABI. All rights reserved.