The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Have an outdoor adventure
Debbie and Mark Mihalik are all in for fall fun at Regal Vineyards. For the seventh year running, the Mihaliks are staging the Haunted Winery and Haunted Corn Maze on their 53-acre property on County Line Road in Geneva Township.
“This is a serious commitment,” Debbie Mihalik said, smiling, as she and her husband, Mark, were installing elements of the fall-focused events running through Oct. 28.
Upwards of 6,000 visitors turned out last year to avail themselves of the two main attractions and dozens of other elements that have been incorporated over the years in this celebration of fall, harvest season and Halloween.
Among the activities offered to visitors are a large jumping pillow, rock labyrinth, corn cannons, hay rides, horse-drawn wagon rides (on selected dates), no-right-turn maze, grape post maze, rope race maze, pumpkin bowling, pumpkin painting, paintball target shooting, animal viewing, kids play areas, gift shop, concession stand, picnic pavilion and fire pit..
Months of planning and many weeks of set-up are needed to be ready for opening day, but Debbie Mihalik said these are labors of love for herself, her husband and the couple’s 16-year-old twins, Cosette and Mark Anthony.
“People need something fun to do and somewhere they can connect, get back to nature and get off their cell phones,” she said.
The biggest “stars” of the annual fall show at Regal Vineyards are the 8-acre corn maze and the Haunted Winery, a classic house of horrors installed in the 18th century home on the western edge of the property facing County Line Road.
An estimated 50 actors and actresses, all volunteers, don suitably gruesome and spooky clothing and make-up to provide thrills, chills, screams and atmospherics inside the Haunted Winery. There are strict guidelines for maintaining distance between the enactors and patrons.
Inside the Haunted Winery is a warren of rooms decorated with vintage and spooky items. There is plenty of screaming, Debbie Mihalik said.
Two mazes are carved out of the field of towering field corn stalks — a shorter version for kids and a much larger version for all other patrons. The corn is planted in perpendicular rows so the mature stalks give the maze its required density. The planting is done later than usual, in June, so the stalks are still green and vital for the seven weeks the maze is in use.
The Mihalaks made it a point to emphasize that Regal Vineyards, in addition to hosting this annual celebration of fall and Halloween, is a working farm.
“Every fall, we want people to think of Regal Vineyards as the place to come to have an adventure,” Debbie Mihalak said.