With this year’s Hoopeston Sweet Corn Festival being greeted by wonderful sunshine and autumn-like weather, strong crowds were not a surprise. On Saturday, as the free sweet corn was being handed out with a long line waiting, we had a chance to speak with Mark McKenzie and his wife Lori.
AUDIO: It’s just a tradition that everybody’s been coming to for years; coming up here to enjoy the sweetcorn, and get to see all the sights and the people, and enjoy the midway.
As more fresh sweet corn is prepared for giveaway, Mark and Lori McKenzie get ready to enjoy theirs, and Hoopeston Jaycees’ Marisa Rush (left) poses with volunteers helping keep things going.
He’s got some early memories from the past as well.
AUDIO: Probably in my early teens; coming up here with my family. And, the free sweet corn; we’d always bring an aluminum tub, and butter and salt.
And leading the team Saturday of Hoopeston Jaycees handling the corn, Marisa Rush.
AUDIO: It’s great. We have a lot of volunteers that are willing to come out, and we’ve got a big crowd. So it’s looking good for this year. What time do you have to start in the morning to get going here? When we start serving at 12, we usually get here around 8 to start filling tanks. We start husking, and getting it all ready, at 10:30.
This year’s was the 81st National Sweetcorn Festival in Hoopeston.
