Hobson Farm donates money to military family members                                        Story by Staff Sgt. Jeff Lowry                                                                          Posted: October 3, 2008

ROCKVILLE, Ind. -- In the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner's character heard voices in a cornfield. One Indiana farmer looked at his fields and envisioned a maze in a field of maize.

Not quite.

But Corey Hobson, a former teacher, wanted a way to instruct children and get back to farm life, which is how he was raised.

"It was the best of both worlds. I could teach and work on the farm," he said.

Since 2004 Hobson's Farm has created a maze in seven acres of corn. This year's maze is special to Hobson. His cousin, Sgt. Rodger Smith, is deployed with the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Hobson wanted some way to honor him, the 76th, and the National Guard. So this years maze features the minuteman logo and the brigade's unit crest.

"It was the least we could do to honor and thank the military," said Hobson.

Hobson's Farm donated a dollar for every person who attended Sunday. The donations are then planned to be used to ship care packages to the troops overseas.

"I always try to do something that people can relate to," Hobson said of the maze designs. "I know that with the 76th deployed it would affect a lot of families."

The Indiana National Guard has more than 4,600 troop deployed in the Global War on Terrorism, about 3,400 are deployed with the 76th.

The farm is open to the public Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday through the end of October. During the week it's reserved for school field trips.

"It's amazing," said Melissa Smith of maze in the maize field. "It's a huge honor to Rodger," she said. Melissa, wife of Rodger, is also in charge of the family readiness group for Company B, 2nd Battalion, 150th Field Artillery, which is headquartered in Rockville.

Rodger is home on leave from Iraq and was overwhelmed by the support he and his troops, and their families.

"It's a major undertaking," he said of his cousin's work. "I appreciate everything he's done."

Rodger didn't know when his leave from Iraq would happen.

"I'm glad I could be here for the opening," said Rodger. It's just how my leave got scheduled."