II Aboard For Paradise
Locomotive Stops At Cherry-Crest Farm
A
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Fanning Staff
PARADISE (Lancaster Co.)
jack and Donna Coleman have a
little piece of paradise in Lancaster
County and they aim to keep it that
way.
‘This township has some of the
best land in the county,” said Cole
man, who spearheaded a move
ment to have 5,000 acres in his
township designated for an ag sec
urity area only to have township
supervisors reject the proposal.
“We have got to stick up for our
way of life,” Coleman tells far
mers. “What happened in New
Jersey can happen here. People
move in from the city and bring
their city ideas with them. They
come up with ordinances against
smells and noise.”
Coleman isn’t merely reciting
information that he read about.
He’s lived it He knows how it
feels to be “legislated” off the fam
ily farm. He was a New Jersey crop
farmer.
“Twenty-five years ago when
my wife and I bought 130 acres, we
thought we’d be there forever. But
things change fast,” Coleman said
of the land they needed to sell
because new ordinances prevented
them from farming.
“People don’t know it, but New
Jersey had some of the best land
around for fanning. Now, that’s all
in dcvelopement The township
supervisors think that can’t happen
here, but it can,” Coleman said.
Although only 21 months old, Jared Is an uncle to Shelby
who Is 2 years old. Both enjoy the calves raised on the farm.
Visitors can catch a ride on the Strasburg Railroad to spend the day on the Road to
Paradise-Lost at the Amazing Maize Maze which borders the tracks.
The Colemans have come up
with a novel idea to save their
farmland. They have built a maze
that they hope will attract thou
sands to their farm.
That sounds a bit too commer
cial for someone who wants to
keep farm land in agriculture, but
when Coleman explains it, the
concept makes sense.
The Coleman’s use a 10-acre
plot on which a com puzzle maze
in the shape of a locomotive was
cut Two miles of mind-bending
paths have been cut through
10-foot high com. Players riding
this corn-fusing rail must find their
way to the center of the boiler on
the front of the engine. As players
wind their way through the rails,
they pick up clues.
The trails are also embellished
with an assortment of theatrical
devices such as two-way commu
nications, lookout towers, secret
color clues, bridges, railroad
themed quizzes and symphonic
music to help maze-fans take the
right turns and left twists through
the pedestrian puzzle.
Interspersed among the theatr
ics, kernels of knowledge about
agriculture are thrown out* Did
you know that there are 3,500 dif
ferent uses for com? That com is
used in windshield washer fluid?
That plastic utensils are made from
them? Samples of com candy are
also available.
A display table reveals many of
these uses. Especially important to
Coleman is information about
«***'.'*V*.y,V
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•» *
Cherry-Crest Dairy Farm in Paradise Is gaining national recognition for Its corn
maze, but long before that the Colemans have been running a successful dairy farm
operation and won state and national awards for corn production. From left are herds
man Fred Ranck, Jack and Donna Coleman with son Jared, and daughter Sherri Groff
with daughter Shelby.
ethanol.
“People need to be educated
about its use. Com is a renewable
resource and a logical use for etha
nol,” said Coleman, who is frus
trated that chemical companies
Tight its use
People bombard the Colemans
and 20 employees with questions.
“How did you grow your com so
tall?” one visitor asked.
“It’s all natural,” Donna
responds. “Cow manure and great
soil!”
Through conversations like
these, visitors learn why farmers
(Turn to Page B 16)
\ *
The Colemans added an addition to their home so that
daughter Sherri married to Brian Groff can live on the farm
and help out with milking duties.
Homestead
notes
Lancaster Faming, Saturday, August 10, 1996-B5