RICHLAND, Mich. – A southwest Michigan farm's corn maze has been designed to bear the likeness of Gerald R. Ford in honor of the nation's 38th president.
Each year, Gull Meadow Farms near Richland cuts a maze in its corn fields. This year, when seen from the air, the maze looks like a portrait of Ford. A corn maze design company drew up the plans for Gull Meadow.
"Instead of just creating a path for people to travel through, we decided to make it a tribute to the late President Ford," Justin Wendzel, a spokesman Gull Meadow, told the Kalamazoo Gazette for a Saturday story.
Ford was 93 when he died Dec. 26 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was appointed vice president after Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973 and the next year became president following the resignation of President Nixon.
Ford was born Leslie Lynch King Jr., in Omaha, Neb. He moved to the Grand Rapids area as a baby and later changed his name in recognition of his mother's second husband.
Richland is located in Kalamazoo County, about 42 miles south of Grand Rapids and about 120 miles west of Detroit.
Ford played on the University of Michigan's national championship football teams in 1932 and 1933 and later turned down offers to play professionally for the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers in favor of going on to law school.
He served in the Navy in World War II and in 1948 was elected to Congress for the first time, rising to minority leader.
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