The Hunter brothers have been growing their crops into iconic figures for nearly two decades, but this year’s design may be their best work yet.
Brothers Chip and Tom Hunter decided to pay tribute to Terry Fox on his Marathon of Hope to celebrate the 35th anniversary of his inspiring run.
“It’s a Canadian story, really,” said Tom Hunter.
That Canadian story happened 35 years ago when Fox set off from St. John’s to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.
“My nephew went up with a friend who has a plane,” said Tom. “We said, ‘wow,’ it just looked so inspiring.”
New Brunswick was one of six provinces Terry Fox ran through. Chip Hunter remembers him running by his home more than three decades ago.
“When we met him, I think the biggest impact that you have is when you actually see him run and you realize how much effort it takes, and to think he was doing 26 miles a day,” he said .
After his cancer returned, Fox ran his last few miles on Sept. 1, 1980 in Northern Ontario. He was 22 when he died.
“When you saw him running, you saw how much dedication he must have to do this marathon,” said Chip.
The brothers say they've never had a maze design garner so much attention.
“We’re kind of overwhelmed by it all,” said Chip. “We’ve had interest shown in our mazes before, but nothing quite to compare with what’s happening now.”
The Hunter brothers hope when people enter the maze in Florenceville-Bristol, they’ll take a few moments to remember Terry Fox and the legacy he left behind.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ashley Blackford.
