MCGA wraps up busy weekend of events
Above: Minnesota Corn Growers Association Secretary Dana Allen-Tully throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the St. Paul Saints game on Sept. 11.
“Corn is Everywhere” was the name of an event the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) sponsored this past weekend at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s ‘Farm at the Arb’ interpretative farm.
It’s also an apt description of MCGA’s presence around the state this past weekend.
In addition to the “Corn is Everywhere” event, MCGA had a presence at Saturday’s University of Minnesota football game, Saturday’s St. Paul Saints game and Sever’s Fall Festival in Shakopee. Additionally, the Lac qui Parle County Corn & Soybean Growers Association and the Todd County Corn & Soybean Growers Association hosted fuel-promotion events Friday afternoon.
[More: Learn about MCGA’s upcoming fuel events]
The “Corn is Everywhere” event was Saturday and Sunday. Kids and families learned about the process of growing and harvesting corn, made corn-seed necklaces, practiced corn shucking, played corn hole, and more. They also were able to explore the ‘Farm at the Arb’ using the new MCGA-sponsored “Farm Crawl” virtual map.
The University of Minnesota held its ninth-annual “Celebrate Ag and Food Day” before the Gophers played Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium.
As a participating sponsor, MCGA had a tent in the Gopher Garden on Oak Street outside of 3M Arena at Mariucci starting three hours before kickoff. Fans stopped by to learn about all the ways Minnesota’s corn growers power the state and to grab MCGA-branded, stadium-approved clear tote bags. During the game, fun facts about corn were displayed on the in-stadium video board; listeners to the radio broadcast heard about how corn farmers and their families are helping build local communities.
Saturday night’s Saints game celebrated the season-long partnership between MCGA and the Triple-A ball club. MCGA has partnered with the Saints to bring a positive message about agriculture and corn farming to fans at CHS Field since the ballpark opened in 2015. Grower-leader Dana Allen-Tully showed off her fastball when she throws out the ceremonial first pitch.
At Sever’s Fall Festival, Twin Cities Road Crew was on hand to deliver corn-themed fun. Festival-goers enjoyed music, dancing, games, corn-themed swag bags, prizes and the “a-MAIZE-ing” corn scavenger hunt.
For more information about MCGA events, visit mncorn.org/category/events.
