Corn on the Cob Days
Lakeside Foods Corn on the Cob Days Facts
- This weekend is Corn on the Cob Days in Plainview. It's always the third full weekend in August. On Sunday, Lakeside Foods will provide free sweet corn to the thousands of visitors that descend on Plainview. It's a tradition that has been going on for decades and continues to this day. It's estimated that between 13,000 and 15,000 visitors partake in the fun on Sunday. Here are some interesting facts about what it takes to get the sweet corn to the visitors.
- Between 8 and 10 TONS of corn are served in the 4 hour period, from 11:00am-3:00pm. It all starts early on Sunday, as the corn is picked fresh that morning. Then, Zeke Levan trucks the corn to Lakeside Foods. A crew of 5-6 volunteers from the Plainview Lions Club meets at Lakeside Foods to help unload the corn from the trucks into the 'retorts'. A retort is a large metal bin that is used to cook the corn in. It takes about 3 retorts of corn to fill the back end of a pick-up truck. A 6 person crew is needed to cook the corn. That includes the cook, John Smith, who has been in charge of cooking the corn for many years. He oversees everything and everybody, including a forklift driver and others for quality assurance.
- A forklift takes the retort of corn inside to be cooked, husk and all. It is then steam cooked at 212 degrees for about 45 minutes. After it's done, it is fork lifted outside to be loaded onto a serving trailer or back of a pick up. The corn is then rushed to the serving area for guests and visitors to enjoy. It takes approximately $800-$1,000 worth of natural gas to cook a festivals worth of corn for the Sunday of Corn on the Cob Days.
- One guest said the best way to eat that corn is to, "Peel the husk back and use the husk as a natures handle". After picking out what ears of corn to enjoy, guests walk through a salt and butter serving line to have their corn buttered by more volunteers from the Plainview Lions Club. The butter that is used is donated by Plainview Milk Products, who have won a 'best tasting butter in Minnesota' award in the past. Plainview Milk Products also supplies 70%-80% of the milk that all of the Kwik Trip stores use.
- Originally, Corn on the Cob Days used to be called 'Fall Festival', then 'Golden Harvest Days', until becoming 'Corn on the Cob Days'. For more information about Corn on the Cob Days this weekend, log onto www.corncobdays.com