N.L. marrow recipient honoring program with corn maze

NORTH LIBERTY — Fall is always a special time of year for Dean and Katie Colony, who welcome thousands of visitors to their family farm for pumpkin picking and hayrack rides.

The Colony Pumpkin Patch's festivities have added meaning this fall, with the family raising money and awareness for a cause close to them.

The family has created a five-acre corn maze that pays tribute to the National Bone Marrow Program's "Be the Match" registry — 18 years after Dean received a life-saving bone marrow transplant at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

"The bone marrow transplant program has always been near and dear to my heart, and my whole family's heart," Dean said. "So when we were trying to figure out what we were going to do for the maze this year, it's seemed natural that it would be 'Be the Match.'"

The intricate corn maze, which spans nearly two miles from start to finish and is modeled after the "Be the Match" logo, opens for the season Saturday. The farm's daylong Fall Festival will follow on Oct. 4, with volunteers collecting items for the North Liberty Food Pantry. Proceeds from the events go toward to the National Bone Marrow Program.

Dean, 42, battled non-Hodgkins lymphoma — a cancer that originates in the lymphatic system — in his 20s. After chemotherapy proved ineffective, he was placed on a waiting list for a bone marrow transplant. Doctors at UIHC, though an international donor list, were ultimately able to connect Colony with a matching bone marrow provider from Germany, who had signed up during a drive for a co-worker.

Two decades later, Dean and his family — his wife Katie and their three children, 12-year-old, Megan, and 10-year-olds Eric and Alison — haven't forgotten the importance of the National Bone Marrow Program.

"It's raising money for the organization, but it's also raising awareness for the people who need transplants," Dean said. "There are a lot of people who go through life who don't get transplants — they can't find a match."

The Colony farm, located along Front Street on the south side of North Liberty, is unique. Dean's father, Frank, who was born and raised there, farmed until his death last year. While the Colony farm was once situated well outside city limits, the booming community has grown up around the family's 250 acres of corn and soybeans. Today, its largely bordered by residential developments and an elementary school.

The location has helped make the farm an increasingly popular fall destination, Dean and Katie said. When they first opened the pumpkin patch in 2005, it was essentially just a cart full of pumpkins by the road that people paid for with the honor system.

Nearly a decade later, they've added children's play area, family activities, hayrack rides and outdoor movie nights. The last three years, they've carved a corn maze in their fields, including last year's design that was a tribute to North Liberty's centennial.

"Even though we live right in the corn belt, I think most of us don't realize what's around us and we forget kind of the roots of the Midwest, the farming," Katie said. "So this is a local, easy way to get out there, get dirty and see how corn grows instead of just driving by it on the interstate."

The Colonys hired an Idaho-based company to design this year's maze, with workers in June clearing the corn with a tractor and tilling the soil to create the paths. From start to finish, the maze spans two miles, with hidden checkpoints along the way sponsored by local businesses. A smaller, three-tenths-of-a-mile maze is also in place for small children or those not up for a longer walk.

For the Colonys, organizing the festival and maintaining the maze is a family effort, and this week there's been plenty to do, the kids said.

"We have to set a lot of the pumpkins out, put corn in the corn box, and fix a lot of the tires on the barrel train wagons," said Megan of her and her siblings' work.

Even as the city closes around the farm, Dean plans to keep the farm and its fall traditions in place well into the future.

"I'd love to preserve it as long as possible," he said. "We realize the development is around us, but my dad never wanted to sell the farm to development. He'd rather keep farming it, because that's what he loved to do, and that's what I love to do, as well."

Reach Josh O'Leary at 887-5415 or joleary@press-citizen.com.

Colony Pumpkin Patch fall events

• Where: Colony Farm, 2780 Front St. N.E., North Liberty. The farm is just north of Forevergreen Road between Van Allen and Garner elementary schools.

• When: The corn maze opens Saturday and runs through Nov. 1. Hours are 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. It is also open from 7 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays for a flashlight maze.

• Fall Festival: The pumpkin patch's annual celebration will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 4, benefiting the National Bone Marrow Program and the North Liberty Food Pantry.

• Moonlight Hayrack Ride and bonfire: The City of North Liberty will host this event at 6 p.m. Oct. 10 and 11. Registration is required at www.northlibertyiowa.org

• More information: Visit www.colonypumpkinpatch.com.