The 80th National Sweetcorn Festival is being hosted again this year by the Hoopeston Jaycees. Activities begin Thursday evening at McFerren Park and run through Monday – Labor Day. Bill Pickett has more….
Hoopeston Mayor Jeff Wise is excited about the festival…
{AUDIO: “It’s a huge draw for the city. We always get thousands of people that show-up for it. Who’s going to pass up free sweetcorn that’s cooked by an antique steam tractor? It’s a great thing that the city puts on. – Well, actually, it’s the Hoopeston Jaycees that put it on – not the city. And we do what we can to help them out.”}
The mayor (shown here) notes there are lots of activities that take place during the festival….
{“We’ve got a lot of music that’s going to be happening. Several different bands are going to be playing next to the sweetcorn line. We’ve got the demo-derbies. Of course we’ve got the rides for the kids. And we’ve got the Grand Parade on Saturday morning – so lots of things to do.”}
And those are just a few of the activities. The Grand Parade starts at 10:30 Saturday morning. Other weekend events include bingo, and the National Sweetheart Pageant. The preliminaries for the pageant begin at 6:30 Saturday evening in the Civic Center in McFerren Park. The winner will be crowned during the finals in competition starting at 6:30 Sunday evening at the same location (McFerren Park Civic Center).
The National Sweetcorn Festival started in Hoopeston in 1941. It was discontinued during World War II, but then resumed after the war.
Eight of the contestants who have competed in the Miss National Sweetheart competition over the years have gone on to become Miss America.
{Our thanks to the Hoopeston Jaycees for providing some of the information for this story. For more information on the festival go to www.nationalsweetcornfestival.com.}
