A corn maze in New Wilmington is opening its gates this weekend as a tribute to Dolly Parton, just weeks after the country music legend died at age 80 following a brief battle with cancer. Irons Mill Farmstead debuted the themed maze Friday, with proceeds set to support the Imagination Library, the childhood literacy program Parton founded nearly three decades ago. What was originally planned as an anniversary celebration has taken on new meaning as a memorial fundraiser in the wake of her passing.
The 10-acre maze at Irons Mill Farmstead is one of 20 Dolly Parton-themed corn mazes that opened across the country in late August, part of a coordinated national campaign by maze design company The MAiZE Inc. in partnership with The Dollywood Foundation, as reported by WPXI. The nationwide push was designed to celebrate the Imagination Library's 31st anniversary this year. Per FOX 5 Atlanta, the campaign spans 20 sites nationwide, underscoring that the Lawrence County farm's tribute is part of something much bigger than one local attraction.
The MAiZE Inc., founded in 1996 by Brett Herbst, has created more than 6,000 corn mazes worldwide and has run its Country Music Corn Maze series for four years, previously honoring stars like Reba McEntire, Luke Bryan, and Lainey Wilson, according to The Newtown Bee. This year's campaign was planned months before Parton's death, transforming what had been conceived as a milestone anniversary celebration into a posthumous memorial and fundraising drive.
A Family Farm Built Over Two Decades
Irons Mill Farmstead sits on 150 acres in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, in Amish country near Pittsburgh and Youngstown, per WPXI. Rob and Stacy Milliron purchased the property in 2004 and officially opened it to the public as a fall festival and corn maze in 2012, later adding a wedding barn venue in 2014, according to Irons Mill Farmstead. The farm has hosted seasonal events in New Wilmington ever since, and continues to host weddings on its grounds.
Beyond the 10-acre maze itself, the farm features more than 40 family attractions, including pig races, a candy cannon show, Apple Blasters, and an area called Corncob Beach, drawing visitors from western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, per Visit Lawrence County. The maze opened Friday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., continues Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and runs Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the same WPXI report.
Parton's Vision Behind the Books
Dolly Parton founded the Imagination Library in Sevier County, Tennessee, in 1995, inspired by her father's inability to read and write. The program, which operates as the flagship initiative of The Dollywood Foundation — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit — mails free, age-appropriate books to enrolled children from birth to age five in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland, at no cost to participating families. The program has distributed more than 300 million books and now mails more than 3 million books each month, per WPXI's reporting.
Parton had said she supported inviting people to the country music corn maze for fun and to help support the literacy program, and that the initiative supports children's dreams through books, according to the same report. The corn maze initiative relies on a partnership structure that splits funding and administrative support among Dolly Parton, The Dollywood Foundation and local community partners, with maze proceeds donated to support the Imagination Library.
Pennsylvania's Funding Gap
The timing highlights a funding challenge specific to Pennsylvania. House Bill 1663 was reintroduced in late 2025 to create a statewide 50/50 funding match for the Imagination Library, aiming to expand book deliveries to all of the state's estimated 700,000 children under age five, according to the Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus. Without a fully funded statewide mandate, only about 9% of Pennsylvania children under age five — roughly 63,000 kids — are enrolled through 60 independent local affiliates as of late 2025, the caucus notes.
Delivering books through the program costs about $2.60 per child per month, or $15.50 annually, with The Dollywood Foundation covering administrative costs so local contributions go directly toward books and postage. That reliance on regional fundraising has real consequences: Cambria County's local affiliate distributed more than 193,000 free books to children over four years before funding constraints temporarily paused its operations, according to the same source.
The funding strain isn't unique to Pennsylvania. States including Missouri have cut allocations for the program from $6 million to $2 million in 2026, according to Newsweek, forcing local community partners and fundraisers to step in to prevent enrollment freezes. Hoodline has previously reported on Missouri's cuts, part of a broader pattern of tribute events nationwide — from a glowing pink bridge in Memphis to a ballpark book drive in San Bernardino — stepping in to fill gaps left by shifting state budgets following Parton's death.
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