Stop the presses! Here is some great news stories you can read, and use!                                       

 

“Salute to the Military” at Smoky Hill Bison’s Maze and Pumpkin Patch- 10/08/08

 

 October 10^th through the 13th is the “Salute to the Military” event at Smoky Hill Bison’s Maze and Pumpkin Patch to show appreciation for the time and service the American soldiers give to our country.

Active military personnel get in free to the maze during these days by showing their military identification. Regular maze admission during the weekend is $7 per adult, $6 for ages 3-12, with children two and under free. Week day tickets are a dollar less per person.

 The maze and pumpkin patch is open every day, plus 6-10 pm on Friday and Saturday evenings to walk the maze in the dark.

 The Smoky Hill Bison Farm is located two miles south of Assaria, Kansas, which is 15 miles south of Salina off of Interstate 135. Take exit 78 or 82 and follow the “Buffalo” billboards to the gate entrance. It is a working farm that raises bison, sells buffalo meat and related items on their website www.BisonFarm.com, and hosts agritourism events.

 This event is just one of the many activities and group fund raisers planned during the Smoky Hill Bison’s Maze and Pumpkin Patch. Information for their fall events, and directions to the farm may be found at www.BisonFarmMaze.com or by calling 1-800-790-2665.

 During October weekends, the public can also enjoy bonus activities with their maze ticket, which includes rides on the handicap-accessible Prairie Tram to see the buffalo herd and watching the Giant Trebuchet launch large pumpkins up to 700 feet during hourly demonstrations.

 Everyone also get to use the corn cannon and pumpkin slingshot to shoot at pasture targets, a water pump duck race, (which is a favorite competition for groups) and the rope, tire and bale mazes. Guests can also ride in an original immigrant wagon pulled by a draft horse team. Concessions of buffalo burgers, snacks and drinks are also available on the grounds besides the Visitors Center Gift Shop.

 New activities this year at the Bison Farm include the Zip Line and the Giant Slide on top of Mt. Smoky, which overlooks the maze.

 For young children there is “Spookley’s Play Patch”, a separate fenced area just for them to safely play. As a farm affiliate with the Spookley book program, this farm helps raise money and awareness for the Cure Autism Now (CAN) organization. Children with autism and their families are invited to come to the farm between 11 am to 1 pm on Sundays for a quieter time to enjoy the activities at their own pace.

 Besides providing community family entertainment with this fall attraction, Smoky Hill Bison provides education about agriculture to today’s youth, and helps raise money and awareness for community activities.

 

Smoky Hill Bison Welcomes Visitors- www.Salina.com 9/22/2008

ASSARIA — On one wall of the visitor center at the Smoky Hill Bison Company in rural Assaria is a world map with pins sticking out, representing the homes of people who have visited the farm.
Pins mark locations from Europe to Asia to Australia.
“Every day we get people from all over the world,” said Linda Hubalek, who along with her husband, Verne, owns the Smoky Hill Bison Company.
One day this past summer, two people from Indonesia who were filming a segment on Kansas stopped by to film the bison. That same day, two people from Sweden visited.
“So here the Indonesians were, interviewing the Swedes while they were in Kansas looking at buffalo,” Hubalek said. “One day, we had a lady from Madagascar that came in; later in the day was someone from China. So we get people from all over.”
In 1999, the Hubaleks switched from raising cattle to raising bison on their farm. Half of their business is selling bison meat and products on a Web site, www.bisonfarm.com, while the other half is agri-tourism. The couple host various groups for meals and tours, as well as showing their pumpkin patch and maze.
After years of raising cattle, Hubalek said she still has to be mindful that bison are wild animals. If a person is trying to do something to the bison, she said, the bison often will turn and face the person as if the person were a predator. So, it is important to work with them very calmly, and as little as possible.
“About the only time we’re bringing them into the work chute is if we’re separating calves in the spring from the herd, or if we’re needing to do some veterinary-type work that needs to be in a contained area,” Hubalek said.
Hubalek has between 50 and 100 bison, depending on the time of the year, split in two different herds. One herd is the meet and greet group, shown to visitors who want to see and learn about the bison. The other herd, in a separate pasture, is the meat source group, providing meat for sale on the Web site and at the visitor center.
Hubalek has trained the bison to come if she calls. If they go where they are supposed to go, the bison receive a treat.
The bison calves are removed from the herd their first year of life and placed at another farm or ranch.
“They’ll bond to you if you get them … before they’re a year and a half old,” Hubalek said. “They’ll bond to you and the place, to your voice, to your looks, to your smell and to your vehicles.”
With the bison company’s tourist season in full swing through the fall, Hubalek expects more visitors.
A good number of people who stop in as they drive on the interstate are from out of state or out of the country. Most find out about the farm through a Kansas tourism publication or through an Internet search.
“Most of them have never seen a buffalo,” Hubalek said, “so that’s why they’re wanting to see something that is so typical of Americana, the majestic icon of the West, the buffalo.”