One south Lincoln County attraction is giving autumn enthusiaststhe chance to get lost in the seasonal spirit.

Beginning where Mallalieu forks off East Lincoln Road, motoristscan follow a series of yellow signs to Don and Donna Hodge’s cornmaze on Melvin Mason Road. The maze is a full 10-12 acres of fallfun for families and revelers of all ages.

“We read about it and we had seen them on the Internet, and wethought it might be fun to have one of our own,” Don Hodge said.”Plus, last year the kids went to one in Natchez. And with gas theway it is, we thought it was a good idea to have one closer tohome.”

So that’s what the Hodges did.

While they didn’t have corn last year, they put down 12 acres ofcorn, and sat down and drew out a maze plan to encompass the wholearea. After the corn was about a foot high, the maze channels weremowed in the field.

Don said if a maze-runner were to travel all the dead ends, hewould end up logging more than two miles of trail-walking.

But whether the purpose is entertainment or healthy fun, theHodges said they just wanted to create a way for local people tofind something new and constructive to do during the weekends inthe fall.

The maze is open Saturdays from 7:30 p.m. until 11 p.m. andweeknight evenings by appointment. Appointments can be made bycalling (601) 835-2912.

“We thought we could create a fun place closer to Brookhaven,hoping more than our family would enjoy it,” Donna Hodge said. “Thefirst weekend went off without a hitch.”

She said several groups from nearby schools came the firstweekend at the end of August. Most visitors stayed until the lightswere turned off at 11 p.m.

“This is just our first year, and we plan to do it again,” DonHodge said. “We just want to try to get bigger and better each yearfrom here.”

But in any kind of farming – even if it’s corn maze farming -the weather is unequivocally a factor. Hurricane Gustav took itstoll on the corn maze, leading the Hodges to wonder if theyshouldn’t just wait another year.

“The following weekend Hurricane Gustav played a nasty trick onus and wrecked havoc on our field,” Donna said. “The creek thatruns along side the corn field swelled beyond its capacity and welost several acres of our maze.”

The Hodges almost shut down their project after the weather hit.But as it turned out, popular demand would not allow them to closetheir doors until next year.

“We had several youth ministers contact us about bringingstudents to the maze, so we did all we could to salvage it. It’s alot more fun for the kids when it’s dark and we were able to changethe maze a little,” Donna said.

The Hodges said they were able to salvage 10 acres of thelabyrinth, but not before even more hard labor on their part.

“As far as farming goes, you never know what is coming with theweather,” said Don. “The storm really worked on it; it hit us hard.But we got out there after the weather and stood the corn up byhand.”

Meanwhile, they came up with a scavenger hunt for maze-runners,giving them stations throughout the maze where they pick updifferent colored corn kernels.

“(We) added a game where they had to search for differentcolored kernels of corn,” Donna said. “That keeps them honest whenthey are in the maze. It encourages them to search everytrail.”

As Halloween approaches, Don said, there are also plans in theworks to haunt the trails – just to get in the spirit of theseason. But haunted or not, it’s a good pastime for people as thesummer wanes, he said.

“This is just a fall thing,” he said, adding that the corn maze,like others he’s read about, is open through the end of October.”We opened this year in August, but it was so hot people weren’tsure if they wanted to come out then. But when they do, they havefun.”

Don said the first weekend, there was a family who stayed in themaze for over two hours.

Some are able to complete it in 30-45 minutes, though. There isa lighted tower that stays manned during the hours of operationwhere revelers can get hints if they need them, as well as keeptheir bearings.

“Some of them just enjoy the challenge of the maze,” Don said.”Sometimes they’ll race each other to see who can get throughfirst.”