A change of location and cloudy skies did little to keep people away from the fifth annual Marietta Sweet Corn Festival on Saturday.
The festival was moved from Armory Square last year to Muskingum Park, where it will possibly stay from now on, said Jessie Bigley, co-chair of the festival committee.
"We moved it this year because the armory was supposed to be under construction," Bigley said. "We've had such positive comments about the change in location that (Muskingum Park) absolutely might be the new home of the Marietta Sweet Corn Festival."
Article Photos
Children playing in corn at this year’s Marietta Sweet Corn Festival.
ROBB DeCAMP
Special to the Times
The festival was expected to go through nearly 4,000 ears of corn between Friday evening and Saturday, said Rene Warren, co-owner of Cowboy Concessions of Whipple. The stand has volunteered its cooking service every year of the festival to aid in allowing the event committee to raise as much funds as possible.
"This is truly a community event," Warren said. "If it weren't for Witten Farm Market donating all of the corn and us at Cowboy Concessions cooking it, the festival wouldn't happen."
All of the corn sold each year was locally grown and donated by Witten Farm Market and sold for $1 per ear to raise the funds.
"Five years ago a group of citizens got together and decided we wanted to try to have an old-fashioned festival to give families something fun to do," Bigley said. "We also wanted to make sure it would be low in cost and celebrate Marietta's farming heritage."
The Washington County area was once a "truck farming" location, she said, and crops including beans, potatoes, tomatoes and, of course, sweet corn were prominent in the Ohio River Valley.
"That heritage is very important because it is why we are here and we need to teach it and remember it," Bigley said.
The funds raised through the sale of the corn helps students interested in agriculture by giving two scholarships to those wanting to study agriculture, Bigley said.
"It's our mission to help the students in the FFA," she said.
This year's scholarships went to 2012 graduates Kylie Seese of Lowell and Autumn Hendershot of Waterford. Both recipients plan to attend Ohio State University's agriculture school.
The organization wanted to highlight Marietta's success in the area of farming and bring people together to celebrate that in a spirit of fun and community. Along with food, there were children's activities that included children of all ages participating in the corn-on-the-cob eating contest, face painting, crafts and a petting zoo.
