Sweetcorn Festival

For 66 years Hoopeston, IL has been celebrating its agricultural roots through the annual Sweetcorn Festival held Labor Day weekend, September 3rd through September 7th. A trademark to the celebration is the free buttered corn.

The corn isn’t cooked up in an ordinary way. First, it is put on a conveyor ran by an antique John Deere engine. The corn is manually fed through the husker where the rollers remove most of the silks. The corn falls into cold water tanks where it is then removed and dropped into cooking pots, where the water is heated by a steam engine. After it’s cooked, the corn is dumped onto a table and buttered and salted and ready to eat.

The celebration was created in 1941, after local businessmen started the original festival in 1938. Each year, thousands of visitors flock to McFerren Park to enjoy the Miss Sweatheart Pageant, the carnival, parade, truck and tractor pulls, demo derby, 5-K run, and entertainment in the beer tent. About 50 tons of free sweetcorn is distributed throughout the weekend. The celebration is now sponsored by the Hoopeston Jaycees.

The National Miss Sweetheart Pagaent attracts contestants from all over the United States. In 1952, the Junior Chamber of Commerce took over sponsorship of the pageant and wanted to attract attention. The Chamber invited the first runners-up from the Miss America state pageants to compete.

Over the years, eight Sweetheart contestants have gone on to become Miss America, the most recent in 2002. IN 2006, 11 former competitors were in the Miss America Pagaent. Judges have either represented or judged the Miss America pageant.

Each year there are approximately 30 women who vie for the title. The winner receives a$1,000 scholarship, a $500 U.S. Savings Bond, and an assortment of gifts. While in town, the girls stay with local citizens and tour local industries. Although Hoopeston doesn’t provide all the glitz and glamour the girls may be used to, it’s still a chance for them to compete at a national level pageant.