Othello Rodeo straw maze opens this weekend

Othello — The Othello Straw Maze will be scaring visitors the last two weekends in October and Halloween night.

The Othello Straw Maze is put on each year by Othello Rodeo Association with the help of volunteers. Volunteers consist of teenagers and parents.

“We normally have between 20 to 30 volunteers,” said Paula Robertson, the Othello Rodeo Association Secretary. “Some make dinner for the other volunteers. The rest are scares in the maze, such as chainsaw people, people who decorate rooms and scare there and wanderers.”

Each night the maze is open, between 300 and 500 people go through.

“We had about 1000 go through on Halloween before,” Robertson said.

This year, the straw maze is larger than normal.

“Normally, we have about 1000 straw bales,” Robertson said. “This year, we’re at 1,200 bales. We figure it takes 40 minutes to walk through our maze.”

Cell phones are not allowed in the maze.

“We say no phones because people will turn on their flashlights and it ruins the scare,” Robertson said.

The maze is open Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 18, 19, 25 and 26, and also Halloween night. Each evening, the maze has a no-scare hour from 6 to 7 p.m. Scaring happens between 7 and 10 p.m. The maze is open until 11 p.m. on Halloween. It is located at the Othello Rodeo Grounds, 1971 W. Fairgrounds Rd. The cost to enter is $8 per person or $15 for two.

To learn more, visit othellorodeo.com/othello-strawmaze.

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at rpinkerton@suntribunenews.com.