Sad News from the Sunflower Maze

They were robbed. Twice. Someone stole cash from their donation box. After the first time, they secured the box better and installed a security camera.

This picture is from last year, showing the donation box before it was made more secure. Recent video showed a young woman trying to take the box, but finding that it was locked and bolted to the boards, she returned to their truck, and a man emerged and tore out the box and the board, damaging the surrounding enclosure. He threw the board with the box in the back of the truck and drove off.

The video was posted to the Internet, and local people recognized the couple. My understanding is that they were arrested. 

The owners of the sunflower farm were devastated by the crime and decided to close for the season ahead of schedule. They are accepting donations.

It’s not unusual for people in this area to rely on an honor system for small purchases. It was startling to me when I first moved here to see how many roadside stands were unattended with cash boxes for produce, flowers, or eggs. I think this system worked fairly well until drug addiction became widespread in rural areas..

The final picture is one that Lynn took of me and Charlie in front of the scarecrow at the maze. I’m glad she got to see it when she did. I’ve been in previous years and I enjoyed going back. I hope that the owners can recover their losses and their faith in humanity.