State corn husking, Junk Fest at Indian Creek
Hand-picking corn and throwing ears into wagons pulled by horses and-or mules was once a modern farming technique, but now it’s something to be remembered as a piece of rural history – and to be continued as a competition.
The Iowa State Corn Husking Competition comes to Southwest Iowa this weekend, when the Indian Creek Historical Society hosts it Saturday at its museum grounds at 59256 380th St., rural Hastings.
The day will include two traditional events rolled into one day-long celebration.
The Southwest Iowa Junk Fest will be held on the grounds from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., More than 30 vendors will be on hand. There will be food vendors and a kids area that will include a bounce house and other activities.
There is a banquet that starts at 6 p.m. Saturday and preregistration is required for that. It will include awards from the day, raffles, and an auction.
Age groups
The corn husking competition will begin at 9 a.m., with registration starting at 8 a.m.
Dave VandenBoom, who lives at Mount Pleasant, is the president of the Iowa Corn Husking Competition. He said there are age groups for the husking competition with plaques and trophies for the first three place winners in each division.
The divisions include 5 and under, 6-9, 10-14, 15-20, 21-49, 50-74, 75+, and the open class. Men and women’s divisions are separate. It’s $20 for adults to pick, and the youth classes cost $5. There is no charge for the smallest children.
Additionally, there is a division for three-member FFA teams with a state championship traveling trophy.
The top three finishers qualify to compete at the national competition in Marshall, Mo., the third week of October.
“We’re keeping history alive,” VandenBoom said. “There was a competition in Iowa starting in 1922. Henry Wallace is the one who started it.”
It was a popular event.
“We think it’s a big deal when they have 70,000 people at a game at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. In 1940, they had 140,000 people show up to watch the competition in Davenport.”
At one time, 12 states had competitions, but he said there are now nine.
The Iowa competition has moved around. VandenBoom said it was at Living History Farms near Des Moines for about 20 years. It was held near Kimballton for a while, too. More recently, after about seven years of not being held, VandenBoom resurrected the event and held it at the Amana Colonies. This is the sixth competition since the re-boot.
“When we started the first year, we had 28 pickers. Last year, we had about 60. It’s hard to say how many we’ll end up with. We ask people to register early, but a lot of them register that day. Some of them want to know what the weather will be like.”
If you want to register early for the competition, you can contact VandenBoom at framer1961@mchsi.com or 641-919-2042.