Middlefield, CT - Lyman Orchards, a family-owned destination popular in New England for over 275 years, has announced that it has been honored as the winner of the USA Today Readers’ Choice Award for Best Apple Orchard.

The winners were posted on usatoday.com and throughout the USA TODAY Network.

This year’s nominations were carefully curated by a panel of experts in each category and USA TODAY 10BEST editors before being voted on by the public.

The Pick Your Own (PYO) season is currently underway at Lyman Orchards, throughout the season visitors can choose from 30 varieties of eco-certified apples. Learn more about apple picking at Lyman Orchards here.

Varieties available in September and October include Gala, Jonamac, McIntosh, Cortland, Honeycrisp, Macoun, Spencer, Liberty, Fuji, Jonagold, Empire, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Ida Red, Crispin, Cameo, Rome, Braeburn, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and EverCrisp.

The apple season lasts for 12 weeks, from mid-August to mid-November.

Besides apples, Lyman Orchards has a variety of fruits to pick during season, including strawberries, blueberries, peaches, pumpkins, and much more.

Come pick apples, pears and pumpkins, available this week!

For more information and to review their picking schedule, visit lymanorchards.com.

See the Top 10 list here: https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/best-apple-orchard/

About Lyman Orchards:

Located on 1,100 acres in Middlefield, Connecticut, Lyman Orchards is a year-round family destination. Established in 1741, Lyman Orchards offers a variety of recreational activities and venues suitable for both adults and children—including pick-your-own fruit orchards, a farm market, seasonal mazes, 36 holes of championship golf, a par-29 nine-hole course, one of the top golftraining facilities in Connecticut, 1741 Pub & Grill, meeting and event space, and seasonal festivals. For more information, call Lyman Orchards at 860-349-1793 or visit lymanorchards.com.

Middlefield, CT - Lyman Orchards is proud to support the Connecticut Children’s Foundation by presenting them with a check for $14,682. Each year, proceeds of Lyman Orchards’ annual Sunflower Maze tickets benefit the foundation and its commitment to providing expert care to pediatric patients.

The Sunflower Maze runs from late July through the end of August annually, with a new theme each year. Last year, Lyman Orchards partnered with the Hartford Yard Goats, with the team’s mascot inspiring the maze design.

“Once again, Lyman Orchards has knocked it out of the park with their extraordinary support of Connecticut Children’s,” said Paulanne Jushkevich, MA, CFRE, President of Connecticut Children’s Foundation. “Since 2007, visitors to Lyman Orchards’ iconic Sunflower Maze have found joy and delight while helping to contribute more than $200,000 to help children in our Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders. We couldn’t be more thankful for such an incredible and enduring partnership!”

For more information on upcoming events, including the 2025 Sunflower Maze, visit lymanorchards.com.

About Lyman Orchards:

Situated on 1,100 acres in Middlefield, Connecticut, Lyman Orchards is a year-round family destination. Established in 1741, Lyman Orchards offers a variety of recreational activities and venues for adults and children of all ages—including pick-your-own fruit orchards, a farm market, seasonal mazes, 36 holes of championship golf, a par-29 nine-hole course, one of the top golf-training facilities in the state of Connecticut, 1741 Pub & Grill, meeting and event space, and seasonal festivals. For more information, call Lyman Orchards at 860-349-1793 or visit lymanorchards.com.

About Connecticut Children’s:

Connecticut Children’s is the only health system in Connecticut 100% dedicated to children, providing more than 30 pediatric specialties. Kids and parents love the exceptional care offered at 40+ locations in three states, and through Video Visit. Connecticut Children’s experts and community leaders are committed to breakthrough research and innovative partnerships which have won them multiple awards. They are Magnet recognized, a designation only 7% of hospitals achieve, and the Women's Choice Award has recognized Connecticut Children’s as Best Children’s Hospital and for best pediatric emergency care.

Connecticut Children’s is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to improve access to health care for all children.

Peanuts Worldwide, The MAiZE Inc., and Lyman Orchards Prove “Happiness is…a Corn Maze!”: Celebrating The 75th Anniversary of Peanuts With Festivities That Will Be The Stalk of the Town

Annual Maze Raises Money for Connecticut Cancer Foundation and American Cancer Society

Middlefield, CT, August 2024  - Kicking off fall festivities for the upcoming 75th anniversary of Charles Schulz’ Peanuts, the world’s most beloved comic strip, Peanuts Worldwide, and Lyman Orchards will demonstrate that “Happiness is..a corn maze!” as they prepare to open a Peanuts-themed maze, created in collaboration with the world’s largest corn maze consulting company, The MAiZE Inc.

Popular, family-owned New England destination of over 275 years, Lyman Orchards, has announced the opening day of the Corn Maze will take place on August 31st, 2024.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will begin at 10am on the opening day of the Corn Maze and Cider Donut Festival. Afterwards, visitors are encouraged to explore the annual Cider Donut Festival, taking place on August 31st and September 1st.

This is the 25th Corn Maze that Lyman Orchards has done. It takes around 30 to 40 minutes to finish and will be open Monday through Friday from 1pm-5:30pm and 10am-5:30pm on weekends and holidays until November 3rd, 2024. Admission costs $11 for adults and $6 for children ages four to 12. Children under three will be admitted for free.

One dollar of every admission will be donated to the American Cancer Society, a Lyman Orchards partner for the past 24 years. Since 2000, Lyman Orchards has raised over $760,000 for the organization. Additionally, $.50 of each admission will benefit the Connecticut Cancer Foundation, which has received $71,128 from the Corn Maze since 2020.

Each Corn Maze visitor will receive a Corn Maze Map and a Corn Maze Passport, which will feature 10 trivia questions about various subjects, including "Peanuts". When guests answer trivia questions correctly, they will be guided in the right direction to successfully complete the maze. Additionally, there will be more than 100 signs throughout the maze with fun facts and trivia.

“The Corn Maze is one of our favorite ways to enjoy fall festivities by bringing together family and friends for a great cause,” said John Lyman, Executive Vice President of Lyman Orchards. “We’re so excited to partner with Peanuts Worldwide and The MAiZE Inc. to create this year’s maze and to continue our support of the American Cancer Society and the Connecticut Cancer Foundation through admission sales.”

“For 75 years, Peanuts has charmed, delighted, and moved fans through my father’s creativity and wit—and what a wonderful way to celebrate his work than with the ingenuity of these Peanuts corn mazes!” says Jill Schulz, daughter of Charles Schulz. “It will be a thrill to see Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the gang rising from the heartland, and I just wish my dad could see his creations ‘writ large’.”

“After the tremendous success of our 2016 collaboration, when millions of visitors in communities around the world visited the Peanuts-themed corn mazes, it’s a privilege and a delight to once again partner with Peanuts Worldwide in honor of their 75 years,” says founder of The MAiZE, Brett Herbst. “We salute the genius of Charles Schulz and couldn’t be happier to celebrate this milestone by bringing families together to create new and lasting memories.”

For more information about visiting a Peanuts maze near you, visit www.themaize.com/peanuts.

For more information about Lyman Orchards, visit lymanorchards.com.

About Lyman Orchards:
Situated on 1,100 acres in Middlefield, Connecticut, Lyman Orchards is a year-round family destination. Established in 1741, Lyman Orchards offers a variety of recreational activities and venues for adults and children of all ages—including pick- your-own fruit orchards, a farm market, seasonal mazes, 36 holes of championship golf, a par-29 nine-hole course, one of the top golf-training facilities in the state of Connecticut, 1741 Pub & Grill, meeting and event space, and seasonal festivals. For more information, call Lyman Orchards at 860-349-1793 or visit lymanorchards.com.

About American Cancer Society:
The American Cancer Society is on a mission to free the world from cancer. They invest in lifesaving research, provide 24/7 information and support, and work to ensure that individuals in every community have access to cancer prevention, detection, and treatment. For more information, visit cancer.org.

About Connecticut Cancer Foundation:
The Connecticut Sports Foundation Against Cancer was founded in 1987 by Connecticut native John Ellis, former Major League Baseball player and cancer survivor, to provide economic assistance and compassionate financial aid to cancer patients and their families in his home state. In 2017, the name of the foundation was changed to the Connecticut Cancer Foundation (CCF), to better reflect their mission.

Through the CT Cancer Patient Assistance Program, CCF is able to help Connecticut families requesting assistance through referrals from oncology social workers from hospitals, cancer treatment centers, and hospices throughout the state. For the past 34 years, CCF has quietly granted over $6.9 million to more than 8,000 Connecticut families dealing with the financial hardship that often follows a cancer diagnosis. In addition, the Foundation has donated over $2.5 million to support ongoing cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. For more information, visit
ctcancerfoundation.org.

Annual Maze Raises Money for Connecticut Children’s Foundation

Middlefield, CT - Lyman Orchards, a family-owned popular New England destination for over 275 years, has announced that its annual Sunflower Maze will open on July 27th, 2024. Nearly one mile of paths surrounded by 350,000 yellow, orange, and red sunflowers make up a design based on the mascot for Hartford’s Double-A minor league baseball team, the Yard Goats. Lyman Orchards has once again partnered with Connecticut Children’s Foundation, donating $1 of each ticket purchase to the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will commence at 9AM on opening day of the Sunflower Maze. The Hartford Yard Goats mascot, Chompers, will be present from 9am-11am to take photos with maze-goers.

The 3-acre maze takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and will be open daily from 9AM until 4:30PM and runs from July 27^th to August 25th. The maze offers visitors the opportunity to see butterflies, yellow finches, and a beautiful scenic backdrop of the surrounding orchard hills. Admission costs $11 for adults and $6 for children ages four to 12. Children under three will be admitted for free.

Lyman Orchards is continuing its partnership with the Connecticut Children’s Foundation – a health network that focuses exclusively on the health and well-being of children. Over the past 17 years, $193,419 dollars have been raised for Connecticut Children’s through the annual maze.

“Each year, we look forward to the joy and happiness that the Sunflower Maze brings our visitors,” says Lyman Orchards Executive Vice President, John Lyman. “Additionally, the maze highlights the important work that Connecticut Children’s does for our community day in and day out, and supports them as they treat children in need.”

“The Hartford Yard Goats are excited to be chosen for the design of the Lyman Orchards Sunflower Maze,” shares Tim Restall, President of the Hartford Yard Goats, “This collaboration celebrates two beloved Connecticut traditions – sunflowers and baseball – offering a one-of-a-kind summer experience for families and fans alike.”

In addition to walking through the Sunflower Maze, visitors may cut their own sunflowers for $4 per stalk at the maze location in a separate field. After completing the maze, guests are encouraged to partake in pick-your-own activities in the family-friendly orchard and stop by the Apple Barrel Farm Market for fresh food and baked goods, as well as soft-serve ice cream.

For more information, visit lymanorchards.com.

About Lyman Orchards:

Situated on 1,100 acres in Middlefield, Connecticut, Lyman Orchards is a year-round family destination. Established in 1741, Lyman Orchards offers a variety of recreational activities and venues for adults and children of all ages—including pick-your-own fruit orchards, a farm market, seasonal mazes, 36 holes of championship golf, a par-29 nine-hole course, one of the top golf-training facilities in the state of Connecticut, 1741 Pub & Grill, meeting and event space, and seasonal festivals. For more information, call Lyman Orchards at 860-349-1793 or visit lymanorchards.com.

About Connecticut Children’s:

Connecticut Children’s is the only health system in Connecticut 100% dedicated to children, providing more than 30 pediatric specialties. Kids and parents love the exceptional care offered at 40+ locations in three states, and through Video Visit. Connecticut Children’s experts and community leaders are committed to breakthrough research and innovative partnerships which have won them multiple awards. They are Magnet recognized, a designation only 7% of hospitals achieve, and the Women's Choice Award has recognized Connecticut Children’s as Best Children’s Hospital and for best pediatric emergency care.

Connecticut Children’s is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to improve access to health care for all children.

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