Preston - This year's corn maze at Preston Farm features a famous historic disaster, but the farm's owners are hoping to avoid a repeat of their own disaster from a year ago, when Tropical Storm Irene nearly wrecked the baseball stadium maze.

Farmer Jerry Grabarek marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic this spring when he laid out the design for the seven-acre corn maze at the Route 2 farm. Sticking with the theme, Grabarek even delayed planting the corn until May 31, anniversary of the day the Titanic was launched from its shipyard in Belfast, Ireland for fitting out.

The corn maze will open Saturday, marking the anniversary of marine explorer Harold Ballard's discovery of the Titanic wreck on Sept. 1, 1985.

Along with a half-size profile outline of the Titanic, the pathways in the maze feature the words "RMS Titanic," an iceberg directly in front of the ship, and a 30-by-11-foot lifeboat moored to one of the two wooden bridges in the maze. Don't think it will be that easy to traverse this maze, because the ship also is set in the midst of swirling ocean waves to add to the atmosphere. The lifeboat, of course, is at the exit, "because to get off the ship, you have to get in the lifeboat," Grabarek said.

Visitors to the maze will make their first stop at the admissions and snack stand, where they will find an aerial photo of the maze and pick up their stamp card listing the 16 mailbox stops within the maze, all with Titanic themes. An illustration of Capt. Edward John Smith is on the Titanic Bridge. The lookout crewman is in the crow's nest.

There's one illustration of a woman at station No. 8 not known through history, but of paramount importance to the Grabarek family.

Matthew Grabarek, Jerry's son and co-conspirator on the corn maze design, said Annie McGowan, his mother's father's great aunt, was 14 when she boarded the Titanic with her aunt, Katherine McGowan and 12 others bound for a new life in Chicago. Annie was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania but went to Ireland to join up with her aunt before the journey back to America.

Annie and the family party were in third class - steerage, where many of the Titanic's victims died - but she made it to the deck and onto lifeboat No. 13, according to the survivor listings. But her aunt and 11 others of the party perished.

"Like many other survivors, Annie never talked about surviving the sinking of the Titanic," Matthew Grabarek said. "The tragedy was just too traumatizing."

When Annie McGowan was in her 80s, during a birthday party, her granddaughter was exploring the attic, when she found an old sea chest with Titanic memorabilia. The girl ran downstairs and asked "Grandma, were you on the Titanic?" Matthew Grabarek related. The elderly woman finally passed down her story to her descendants in the room.

Annie McGowan died at age 92 before Matthew Grabarek was born, but Matthew Grabarek cherishes her memory.

"I never knew her, but I miss her," he said.

IF YOU GO

What: Preston Farm annual corn maze

Where: 92 Route 2, Preston.

When: Sept. 1 to Nov. 4

Open Monday through Friday 3 p.m. to dusk

Saturday and Sunday and holiday Mondays 10 a.m. to dusk.

Other hours by arrangement.

Price: Admission is $8 for ages 12 and up, $5 for ages 6-11 and $2 for ages 4 and 5.

For information, call (860) 886- 6293 or go to

www.prestonfarmscornmaze.com