Stalks of corn towered over Zachary Peabody Sunday as he led his family through a giant maze.
"I know the way, I know the way! We have to go through the edges," Peabody yelled to his cousins Jacob and Jackson as they trudged through dead corn and flying dirt. "C'mon, we're almost there!"
Zachary's mother, Melanie Peabody, and his aunt, Lisa Sykes, brought their children to the A Maizen' Fun Corn Maze, 6275 Clark Road in Lansing, for the family festival EleFest.
EleFest, sponsored by Ele's Place, a healing center for grieving children, included a corn maze, games, rides, craft booths, food and live music by The Chenille Sisters, a trio of folk singers.
"Ele's Place is a great organization to help out," Grand Ledge resident Sykes said. "We've been to this event before and it's always a lot of fun. We're lost, but these kids think they know where they're going."
As the family made their way through the maze, they passed "corn cops" patrolling the maze and a series of questions, geared at helping maze-goers find their way. Next to each answer, there was a direction. The correct answer pointed participants in the right direction.
"We're gonna be stuck in here forever," Zachary said. "Are we gonna have to sleep here?"
Ele's Place, 1145 W. Oakland Ave. in Lansing, is a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to children who have experienced the death of a family member or friend.
EleFest is one of the organization's three annual fund-raisers and has grown since its first year in 2001.
Profits from the event go directly to Ele's Place, which provides free service to more than 180 children and their family members each week.
"We need a family event to bring us together," Ele's Place Executive Director Laurie Baumer said. "We've got a tremendous group of volunteers - we couldn't do this without them."
While some attendees gallivanted through the corn maze, others bought homemade candles, soaps and jewelry from craft booths. In addition, Winston's Catering provided ribs and chicken, and fruit cobbler was in abundance for a cobbler-eating contest.
Lansing resident Annette Skinner came to see The Chenille Sisters.
"They have a lot of fun songs, she said. "But I also wanted to support Ele's Place."
